


Book One: Worlds Apart

by AXMena



Category: Disney - Fandom, Kingdom Hearts, X-Over - Fandom, anime - Fandom, crossover - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:49:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 42,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13528482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AXMena/pseuds/AXMena
Summary: The story revamped and retold; same hero, new protagonist, bigger story, and eventually greater stakes. KH1 basic canon elements for this first of a three part series. Rated M mostly for language.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any other Disney/SE names, places, or things you might recognize. However, I am greatly possessive of my OCs ;)
> 
> My goal in writing this is for fun and writing practice, so above all else, I'd love to get some serious feedback. Pretty please?

CH. I

Her eyes snapped open and her head shot up from the pillow. There was a scream. She could swear she heard a scream. Why else would she be awake?

_Akari._

She shoved off the warmth of her covers and made her way out into the hall. Her bare feet pressed lightly into the soft carpet with every step as she approached another door. It was only slightly ajar and a faint light shone from within. Slowly, she pressed a hand to the door and moved it aside, peeking in cautiously.

"Ari," she whispered. "You awake?"

What greeted her was a pair of wide, dark blue eyes illuminated by the soft light emanating from a small lamp sitting on the edge of a vanity to the far left of the room. The girl, whom she called Ari, simply blinked in response, then hung her head, staring blankly at her hands folded over the blanket covering her legs.

Sighing, she stepped into the room and sat down on the younger girl's bed. "Was that you I heard? Did you wake up screaming?"

"I..." she shrugged, not sure how to answer. Had she screamed? She didn't remember. All that was left of her dissipated sleep was a shiver lingering in her spine and goosebumps spread up and down her arms. "Maybe," she sighed. "It was just a nightmare. No big deal, Yumi."

But the older girl looked skeptical.  _Must have been some nightmare_ , she thought. Not one memory came to mind of Ari ever having screamed over a dream for as long as she had known her. "Sure you don't want to talk about it?"

She just shook her head, still staring at the dark covers. A yawn escaped her, then, "I'm too tired... Maybe in the morning," as she slipped the blanket back over her shoulders and snuggled into her pillow, leaving Yumi staring at the back of her dark haired head.

With a reluctant sigh, Yumi finally stood and walked away. She threw back one last look at her sleeping younger cousin, concern evident in her eyes, then pulled the door shut behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

CH. II

"Done!" The slamming of a door echoed through the house. "Akari Morance is now officially a  **freshman**! Oh yeah!"

A small laugh followed from somewhere within and the newly dubbed freshman walked further inside only to find herself in the kitchen. There, a young girl with strawberry blond hair sat at a four seater breakfast table making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"Reina," she cried happily. "Is that  **yumminess**  for  **me**?" Her dark blue eyes danced with excitement as she slid herself into a seat opposite the other girl.

"No way, Ari! Get your own!" Reina shut her own blue eyes tight as she stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, no fair! I'm hungry, too! You're a horrible sister," she pouted, flipping stray hair out of her face, her scarcely placed purple highlights contrasting briefly with her natural black hair.

"Says the lazy older one!"

"Hey! I've got... responsibilities and... other, y'know,  **things**  to worry about."

"Like what? Being lazy  **and**  fat?"

"No," she growled, glaring at the other girl playfully. "Like... becoming head of special events!" She squealed.

"Nuh-uh! You got it?!" The newly made sandwich dropped from her small hands onto the table as she leapt up in surprise, leaning in toward the fourteen year old.

"Yep!" she nodded enthusiastically. "I just talked to the teacher who sponsors it. I got V.P.!  **So. Awesome!** "

"What about 'Karu?"

Ari smiled at the thought of her best friend. "Hikaru? She's Secretary," she told her sister. "We signed up together, remember? Since I got V.P., they let me put in a few recommendations. Oh! And Jay's Assistant Choreographer," she continued on, naming a few other friends and their jobs, or lack thereof. She and her closest friends of equal age had been vying to take charge of special events there as they had in middle school, but only a select few were lucky enough to make it where only seniors or juniors tended to rule.

"Wow. But you guys actually got in! The seniors are going to hate you  **all** ," the twelve year old laughed, her bubbly voice forcing Ari's smile wider.

"Probably. Maybe. If we weren't  **so cool** , I'm sure they would," she winked.

Reina just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right.  **Cool.** "

Sarcasm dripped from her voice, but her older sister happily ignored it. "Exactly. I'm glad you agree."

* * *

 

An hour later, Ari found herself curled up on a couch, the black ink on the pages of a book she'd been meaning to read for quite some time staring up at her. Her eyes would occasionally scan the words, then shoot right back up to where they'd started. The words she read would not process in her mind. She heard them there aloud in her head, but the information would not stick. There was something scratching at the back of her mind, nagging, whispering inaudible things, knocking against a brick wall that adamantly stood guard against anything that dared venture to the foreground. Just as frustrating, something snagged itself in her stomach, turning and twisting and tickling until she could no longer stand it, and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. It was as if she'd forgotten something incredibly important, and now something was due to go horribly wrong.

But so far, everything was going great! She had finished middle school as an honor roll student. She was already gaining prestige in high school before the year had actually begun... The summer was already turning out to be the prelude to a magnitude of blessings.

Then again, there was that one exception; no matter how much she tried to forget, to dismiss, to deny the nightmare she'd had that night, it would not leave her be. In fact, that had been almost two weeks ago now, and since then she'd had another one almost exactly like it just the previous night, though this one had ended differently. Instead of jolting awake, she had woken up feeling utterly confused, as if she had just been handed one of the most difficult puzzles ever created and told to solve it. Worse: on a time limit.

The more she thought about them, the more they got all jumbled up and merged into one big messy memory. But no matter how warped they became, the feelings they left her with were always the same: Fear, foreboding, loneliness, vulnerability, paranoia, sadness, anxiety, urgency.

Something was definitely about to go horribly wrong.

"You should have stayed a bit," a light voice said from beside her.

She looked over to see her best friend pushing the front door closed behind her before dropping herself down onto the other end of the couch. Hikaru, whom she'd met years ago away on vacation one summer, never knocked anymore, but it was no surprise to the girls. After all, their home was Hikaru's home; the girl spent so much time over at their house that she even had some of her own stuff in a former guest room that now belonged to her. Yumi was already considering giving the girl a key. For now, they simply kept the doors unlocked for her.

"You missed out on some craziness," she said.

"I bet," Ari murmured.

"How's your book?" She tucked a bit of straight black hair behind her ear.

Ari shrugged. "Don't know. Haven't really been paying attention."

Her brows rose. "Oh? Distracted? I wondered why you left early. Everyone was, actually."

"Sorry," Ari said after a moment. "Got a lot on my mind." She felt a touch bad for leaving her friends so early; normally, they would all get together after school, especially at the end of the year, but she didn't want to be the downer.

"Have something to do with your nightmare?"

That was a surprise. She peered at the other girl curiously. "I thought you forgot."

Hikaru shook her head. "You don't have them often, Ari."

A slow shrug was her only response.

"Don't wanna talk about it?"

Another shrug.

Hikaru sighed. If Ari was so bothered by it that she didn't even want to talk about it, then there was nothing she could do until the other girl was ready to vocalize her thoughts. But the idea that something could affect her this much poked at her heart, and it refused to let the issue go. Still, she knew her best friend would tell her in time. Until then...

"Ari's dreams are always really weird."

Hikaru had no choice but to turn to the only other source available at that moment, and that source was the twelve year old now sitting in another room on the other end of the house, watching TV and twirling a soda can in her hand.

"Yeah, I know. But she never reacts like this... Did you hear when she screamed?"

The blond shook her head. "I thought I did, but I was half asleep, so I can't really remember. But I heard about it from Yumi."

She nodded in response. "Same here." Silence. Then, "Did she tell her anything?"

Another shake of the head. "Nope. At least, that's what Yumi told me."

Hikaru sighed. Another few seconds of silence passed. Then she heard the younger one's soft voice as she said, "I don't like it when she has bad dreams. Something always happens when she has them."

This made her brows shoot up as she blinked her dark brown eyes curiously. "What do you mean?"

A shrug. "I don't know. It's like... people fight or someone gets hurt or... I don't know. It's creepy. Like they're warnings or something."

"Um... premonitions?"

Reina giggled. "She only wishes she were that special," she smiled teasingly.

Hikaru laughed, too, then shook her head. "She's got pretty good intuition, though. Maybe that's it?"

At this, Reina shrugged. "Maybe."

A blanket of silence fell on the two as they both seemed to retreat into their own thoughts. Hikaru almost smiled at the thought that once her best friend got over it and finally came out with it, they would be laughing their little heads off at her mind's insanity.  _That's right_ , she thought.  _Just her bizarre imagination acting up again._

* * *

The hands on the clock read 7:42.  _Really? Not even eight?_ Work for the day was done much earlier than any of them had originally anticipated. Which wasn't to say that Yumi was complaining. Oh, no. As much as she loved her job, she always welcomed the much needed breaks.  _Good news for me. Maybe I can take the girls out to celebrate tonight._

"Good job, everyone," a man's voice called over the bustle and shuffle of folks gathering their things and preparing to leave. "See you all bright and early tomorrow!" This earned him a few groans, and said groans earned a bit of laughter. He only shook his head.

Yumi smiled at her manager, Alan, eliciting a small chuckle, too, before she lifted herself off her chair and swung her purse over her shoulder, the thought of a celebration effectively wiped clean from her mind. With a quick wave and enthusiastic "good night!" she pushed open the heavy door of the studio and made her way down the stairs, listening absently to the patting of her shoes against the tiles echo against the bare walls.

"Yumi, wait up!"

She halted, looking up in time to see Alan duck his brown-topped head back in from over the rail and run down to meet her. When he did, her dark eyes met his hazel ones curiously. "What's up?"

"Hey, listen. Since you drive farther than the rest of us, I wanted to tell you – that last call I got was about the weather."

"Weather?" She didn't remember anything particularly interesting on the weather channel that morning.

He nodded. "I was told it looks really bad out there. Careful on your way home."

She blinked, lost. "What are you talking about?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "They just said the weather looks fucked. I don't know what's happening, but just watch the road and drive easy."

"Like a storm?" Her tone was incredulous.

He made his way back up to the studio as he nodded. "Let me know you got home safe. I'll see you in the morning." And the conversation was over.

For a moment, she stood there in shock, then suddenly whipped her head around and flew down the remaining flights of stairs, throwing open the exit and taking long strides through the parking lot. Her short hair was violently swept up in front of her face, but she fought the urge to hold it back and look around. If there really was some big storm coming, she couldn't waste time marveling. She needed to be home with the girls.

Fumbling with her keys, she unlocked the door, swung it open, and threw herself in the seat, the door slamming shut almost immediately after her. She winced, cursing the weather's treatment of her precious car.

She started up the engine and pulled out her phone, staring at the clock on the dashboard as the phone rang softly against her ear. In bright grey, the numbers 7:59 stared back at her. She was on the road within seconds.

"Dammit," she cursed, flipping her phone shut and then flipping it open again.  _Redial_  was the thought she sent it, as if it would comply as she glared at it before pressing the button and sticking it to her ear again. Nothing. "Shit. Answer your phone, Ari," and she threw it in the passenger seat.

Her headlights flicked on automatically. It was getting dark.

Her hand reached for the radio dial. Her heart rate picked up, and adrenaline began pumping through her body. There was no one else on the road.

Why the hell was it so dark?

"Jeez. What's with this weather?" None of the stations were working. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she jammed her shaking finger into the dial, effectively ridding her nerves of the static.

She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of a high pitch note, the first note of her ring tone. She cursed.  _What the hell,_  and she glared at the device, swearing to change it as soon as she got home before answering. "Hello?" A sigh of relief flowed through her at the sound of her cousin's voice. "Finally. Hey, are you watching the weather?" She listened. "Well, it looks like a really bad storm is heading our way. I'm on my way home now... Let me know if you learn anything before I get there."  _Click._ Sighing, exasperated, she tucked the phone under her purse in the passenger seat, taking care to make sure it was directly within her reach, then brought her eyes back to the road.

Her heart stopped and her eyes widened. The brakes screeched as she cursed, swerving the car abruptly to the right. It came to a sudden stop only inches away from a metal rail. She cursed again, slamming her palms on the steering wheel as she did so. "Was that a fucking  _dog_?! Who the fuck?!" There weren't many houses around for another couple of miles. It was a suburban business hub, the area she was returning from. Had the dog jumped from a car window? There was no one else on the road. A stray? But strays here were a rarity.

She glanced into her rear view mirror, but all she saw were the faint red taillights of her own car and darkness beyond. It occurred to her that the smart thing to do was continue the drive home. The weather didn't look the least bit inviting, and it was her life or some dog's, which probably had a better chance of surviving on its own out there than she did, anyway. But her conscience would have none of it. Reluctantly, she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door, let out one foot, paused, then grabbed her phone as an afterthought. The wind blew her door open the rest of the way.  _Dammit_ , she scolded.  _This is crazy._ The adrenaline rush picked up again, and she hesitated before stepping out of the car, steadying herself with a hand on its roof. She turned in the direction she had come from, her hair whipping at her face before she forced it aside.

Her body froze. She felt her blood run frigid. What she saw, she could not explain. A scream was building in her throat, but something blocked its path.

Whatever it was she was looking at was like no pet she'd ever seen, and there were many of them. More and more seemed to grow right out of the darkness, and only her eyes darted back and forth between them. She could not register how many were coming her way. They had completely surrounded her.

* * *

"Ari! 'Karu!"

A sigh escaped Ari's lips as she clicked off the TV, having gotten nowhere in her search for some sort of broadcast about the weather. Hikaru was already heading to where Reina was waiting. Ari wasn't far behind.

"What's going on?" Hikaru's soft voice questioned. "You okay?"

"You have to see this."

Both girls huddled around the younger one, looking out the window to get a sense of what she was seeing. Hikaru's brows were raised high on her forehead, but Ari's brows took the opposite route.

"It's so dark..." she whispered, the poking and nagging at the back of her mind growing.

"That's insane," her best friend agreed. "You can barely see out there."

The sound of thunder seemed to suddenly echo from every direction as it reverberated through the house, shaking its colorful walls. The lights flickered briefly.

Then Reina gasped. "The garage!" With a yelp, she pushed herself out from the huddle and ran toward the kitchen.

"Reina, wai-"

"It's just like it."

Hikaru stopped in her tracks, whirling back around to face Ari. Had she really just heard her speak? Her voice was so low, she couldn't really tell if the girl had actually spoken or not. "What?"

"My dreams. It feels like my dreams."

Hikaru hesitated. "Ari... What... What exactly was your dream...?"

"Darkness," she whispered. "Something's coming."

"Wha-" A crash interrupted her next question, and the two of them snapped their heads in the direction Reina had gone.

* * *

A flashlight. She needed a flashlight. The lights had flickered, and it was too dark to see outside. The garage was open and needed closing, but she could see nothing beyond. She needed a flashlight.

Goosebumps erupted all over Reina's body. She felt a presence behind her, but she ignored it, balancing herself on some boxes as she stretched herself to her limits. The darkness made her paranoid.

 _Almost there..._  the tips of her fingers brushed against the edge of something plastic and cylindrical.  _There it is!_  She took one small leap, grabbed at it, then let her weight back down on the boxes. They wobbled, and she knew what was coming. Sure enough, she soon found herself on the floor, pain shooting up her behind. "Ow..."

Slowly, she picked herself up, rubbing her butt with one hand as she wore off the shock of the fall. Now she needed to get the garage doors closed. She contemplated leaving one open for Yumi, but instantly decided against it. With the way this weather was headed, the inside would be a disaster by the time the storm was over. Making her way over, she stood for a moment to study the world that had gone black beyond the threshold. She was staring straight at a black wall. It was just... black. She could hear the wind, the rustling, the shuffling...

Before she could register what she'd done, her thumb slid the switch on the flashlight upward, sending a soft beam of light into the darkness.

" **Reina**!" Ari slammed the garage door open, Hikaru right behind her. Their eyes went round as they froze. Ari's body went rigid.

Slowly, the blond's head turned to face them. "Ari...?"

There was terror and confusion in her younger sister's eyes. Balls of yellow were floating toward her. Her mind screamed at her limbs to move, to run to her sister, to pull her away. But she could not move.

Closer and closer they got, crowding the large opening of the garage, and as they entered the light, the two could make out claws, then twitching antennas, round heads, bodies of black... and those beady yellow eyes.

Ari's breath hitched in her throat. Those eyes.

But she had no time to think. One of them pounced in Reina's direction, claw extended. Ari called out to her, and the girl turned in time to scream, drop the flashlight, and duck through the mess of black bodies, backing up against the far wall and curling into herself. The light from the flashlight was almost immediately shut out by the swarm.

"Ari! We have to help her!"

"How?!"

Another scream, and Ari turned to see tendrils of black encircling her sister. She stared in bewilderment, panic shooting through her. Her legs automatically took action, pushing her away from the door to jump past the two steps leading down into the garage. She could hear Hikaru calling her name, but she didn't care. She didn't have time to care. The black tendrils had almost encased her sister completely. Hikaru's voice became distant. Ari threw herself in the midst of the creatures, pushing and shoving, desperately trying to reach her.

The creatures turned to face her. More swarmed in, completely filling the gap between her and Hikaru. The tendrils grew, merging together, slowly closing her sister off.

"Reina!" She reached her hand out, her sister's tearful eyes staring back at her in horror, a silent scream escaping her lips, before the vision was stolen from her altogether. "Reina!  **Reina** **!** " But she was already gone.

"Ari!" Hikaru's voice broke through, and she felt a jolt of pain shoot through her back. She swung her arm around, but it collided with nothing. Hikaru was so far away... Her vision blurred as tears sprung to her eyes.  _Reina..._  "Ari, fight!" Her right arm shot forward on instinct, her hand in a fist, looking for something to hit. Nothing. She was being roughly shoved around in a chaotic sea of black and yellow.

This was impossible. These beings were everywhere. "What the fuck  **are**  you freaks?!" she shrieked, anger and grief fueling her every breath. "Give my sister  **back**!" Swing after swing came of her arms, but it seemed hopeless. Her fists collided with few of them, sending them tumbling or falling back to the floor, but they always got back up. She was now beyond the garage, and it looked like their numbers were increasing.

Something flickered in the corner of her eyes, and she instantly regretted her decision to look. More, thicker tendrils began reaching out from the ground, and immediately following it was a huge ball of black. She watched it grow like a shadow, the horror within her growing with it. Soon, she was staring into another pair of gleaming yellow orbs, each one at least as large as the head of one of the little guys surrounding her.

It didn't stop there. Two hands, one after the other, flew out and slammed into the ground on either side of it as it seemed to be pushing itself up from within the ground. Two small wing like appendages opened up, and it lifted its head as it pulled itself up to its waist, its height easily surpassing that of their home. Legs soon followed, and then it stretched, showing off the large heart shaped hole in its abdomen, before it seemed to slice through the air with its arm, slamming a hand down on the ground. Ari had to shield her eyes as sparks of black and purple erupted, and the force of the impact sent her flying, her body sliding against the grass. All thought disappeared as she withdrew her arms from her face only to see Hikaru floating above the creature, her body caught in some invisible force like gravity, pulling her toward a glowing dark orb looming high above.

She was screaming, that much she could tell by the shape of her mouth, but Ari could not hear her. Hikaru was reaching for her, but she was much too far away for anything to be done.  _Fuck that._  Ari forced herself off the ground, using all the strength she had left in her legs to push her in the direction of the black giant, calling Hikaru's name desperately.

Something boomed in her ears, and before she realized what had happened, she was swept off her feet again and thrown back. She shrieked, reaching her hand out toward her best friend as the last of her features disappeared within the darkness. Then her world went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch. III

Black. It was all she could see. She didn't mind black. Black was her favorite color. Such a beautiful color.

But this was just too much.

She took a step forward, the sound of her footstep echoing in the emptiness. Where was she? She frowned, trying to remember.

_"Ari!"_

Reina. Hikaru. They had been taken. But by whom? And where? Were they still alive somewhere, lost as she was?

Familiar beady yellow orbs flickered ahead. She forced her eyes to focus, but there was nothing.

She heard whispers.

Her feet spun her around and around. What was she hearing? Where was it coming from?

Suddenly she felt nothing beneath her feet, and the sensation of falling invaded her senses. She screamed, but her voice faded to nothing. She shut her eyes against the feeling, panic seizing her. Her breathing shallowed. It took her several moments before she tried to open them again, realizing abruptly that she had stopped. When she looked around, she was floating only inches above the ground, blades of grass barely grazing her feet. She looked up, her feet touched the ground, and she stood still. There was someone there in front of her. He was standing under the cover of trees, and most of his features were hidden.

His lips moved.

She squinted, trying to listen to his words and read his lips at the same time. It was in vain.

Without warning a light shot from his chest, passing through hers before she had a chance to react. She stared down at the cylinder of light that now dug an empty path right through her.  _Wha-?_  She turned to look behind her. Reina stood there, reaching out to her. She called out, but it didn't seem to reach her. Her arm stretched out toward the younger girl, but her feet were stuck. Everything was now white around her. The white hole in her chest remained, but the path had gone.

 _It's too late,_ a voice whispered. She snapped her head to the right. The figure stood there, hidden in the brilliant light. His lips moved.  _Too far,_  he seemed to whisper.  _Too dark. It's growing._

"Who are you?" she asked him softly. "Who are you?" she tried again, louder.

 _I will find you_ _,_ she thought she heard him whisper, and a shudder erupted through her body. He began to fade.

"Wait!" A sudden desperate fear clung to her heart. Who was he? Where did he come from? Did she know him? Could he tell her what was happening?  _Don't leave me!_  She had the sudden urge to scream. Tears welled up in her eyes as she choked down silent sobs, but his figure was that of a ghost's.

 _Without Darkness, there is no Light. Without Light, there is no Darkness._ A male voice, soothing and strangely familiar, spoke to her, loud and clear. This was his voice, she somehow knew, but she'd never heard it before.

"What do I do?!" The question came out before she knew what she was saying, and it didn't stop there. Her voice was acting on its own. "You can't leave me here! Tell me what to do! Don't leave me alone!"

His figure disappeared completely.  _The key is broken. The bridge is adrift._ Black surrounded her once more.  _Darkness spreads within; we're running out of time._

Her eyes snapped open and his voice echoed in her mind.

_What...?_

Her brows came to a point. Stars twinkled before her. It seemed she was facing the night sky. Confusion filled her. Stars?

Willing herself to move, her sore arms painfully obeyed by lifting her off the hard, uneven surface she found herself sleeping on. She blinked, trying to push aside the haze that seemed to cloud her mind.  _Where am I?_  She groaned at the aching in her body, putting a palm against her forehead. Turning on her side slightly to attempt to stand brought on an immediate wave of vertigo. Scrambling to right herself, she found herself suddenly alert, studying her surroundings with wide eyes.

It was higher ground. She could see what looked like rooftops surrounding her, each merely a few feet apart. She glanced down. Sure enough, there was a rooftop beneath her. Now it made sense: what she felt digging into her back when she'd woken were the roof's maroon colored shingles, and the loss of balance was because the friction of her clothes, nothing but dark jeans and a black tank top over a black sports bra, against said shingles were the only things keeping her from sliding right down its slopes.

Cautiously she braved a peek down the side of the building. The ground was just far enough that she'd likely break a few bones trying to climb down.

 _Great._ With a heavy sigh, she maneuvered herself onto all fours and crawled around, searching for some other way down. Maybe there was a ladder or something? Or a window? Or a balcony to drop on? Something? Anything?

 _Ah!_ A satisfied smile spread across her lips.  _Better than nothing._  Below her were crates stacked up strategically, high enough that she could climb down without having to lose a limb or two.

Slowly, carefully, she slid herself down to the topmost crate, then to the second, and finally leapt down to the ground. She squared her shoulders, dusted off her hands, then rested them on her hips with a triumphant smirk, choosing to ignore the pain.She stretched her limbs.  _Now... some painkillers for the soreness, maybe?_ But where would one go about looking for anything in this unfamiliar place?  _Only one way to find out_ , her mind told her. Now she took the moment to look around. It was a small alley around her, barely lit. She followed it along to its exit, and found herself facing open space surrounded by the doors to what looked like multiple shops, a few neon signs hanging above that she didn't particularly feel like bothering her eyes with. A little farther ahead was a set of stairs leading down to a courtyard, a café with outdoor tables on one side, a wall of windows and balconies on the other, and a set of humongous double doors that she figured served as an exit of some sort directly ahead.

Instead of heading down the steps, she decided to explore some more; with some luck, she would run into someone who could tell her what was going on. She took a left and continued further into this strange, oddly silent city. It lead her up some other steps, around a few corners, and eventually to another set of double doors about half the size of the last. She looked around; there was no one to direct her. With a shrug, she placed a palm on each door and pushed.

The hinges creaked softly at the movement, revealing beyond them buildings with blue, green, and orange lights filtering through the windows and glowing from the street lamps. Cautiously she walked forward to the edge, where the ground ended in a balcony overlooking another long, narrow courtyard. Peering into it, she noticed the upper level she was on extended to either side of her, stretching out into two separate walkways, one to her left that stretched on to other buildings and another to her right that folded into descending stairs looking back up at her. She wondered what she would find down there.

Then, strangely, the hairs on the back of her neck lifted. Her body went stiff. With a slow, shaky breath, she carefully turned to look behind her and came face to face with familiar glowing yellow orbs, those annoying antennas making her twitch with every twitch of their own.  _Not again._  Her breathing shallowed and every beat of her heart seemed an explosion against her eardrums. More appeared, slithering around in the ground like living shadows before popping out to join their friends. They were closing her in against the dark stone rail.

One leapt at her, drawing its claw back, and she threw her arm up to shield herself. It swiped, and she felt it slice through her skin. She hissed at the pain, cursing under her breath.

Another one tried to swipe at her, but she stepped aside at the last moment, her survival reflex kicking in. She had to get away from these things at all cost.

She heard a poof from somewhere beside her, and a strange, blue-clad creature uncurled itself in midair as it clamored into existence right before her eyes. Another poof in the other direction. Then another. And another.

Panic began to take hold. There was no end. They would just keep coming.

Two of the yellow eyed creatures pounced in on her from two separate directions. With a cry, she threw herself down on the ground and huddled into a ball, both arms covering her head. They were on top of her. Others crowded in around her. She screamed. "Get away from me! Go away!" She pushed her arms up in an attempt to throw them off of her, but they would barely budge. Claws of black covered the ground from her line of vision. More claws scratched and dug at her back. "What do you want from me?!" She shrieked.

More poofs filled her ears. At the sound of them, her heart sank miserably. Was this really the end for her? She shut her eyes tight, bracing herself for whatever end came next.

"Get up," a deep voice instructed. One eye opened in surprise before another followed.

She shifted her vision left to right, but she saw no creepy black claws. A few more poofs reached her ears, and she flinched, waiting for something to pounce on her again, the weight on her back now gone. When it didn't, she hesitantly let herself out of her ball, lifting her head to see a pair of legs a mere couple feet away from her. She traced them up to a white-clad torso, leather-clad arms, fur lined shoulders, and finally a head framed in brown hair.

"...Umm..." She blinked.

"Get. Up."

She gulped but obeyed, holding onto the balcony ledge for balance as she leaned back away from him. "Did you..."

"You should go back to First District."

"You... saved me?"

"Leave," he turned on his heels and began strolling away, a huge sword-thing she just noticed held leisurely upon his shoulders.  _Huge,_  she mentally emphasized.

"Wait!"

He stopped.

"Who are you? And what is this place? Did you really just kill those things?" She winced, remembering the swipe at her arm from earlier. Where were the bodies?

He turned only half way toward her, as if he were already bored. "Another new one, huh?"

She blinked back in surprise. A soft, almost lazy sigh escaped him, and she scowled at him. His behavior irked her.

Suddenly he straightened up, looking directly at her now, a brow raised, and for the first time she got a glimpse of the scar etched diagonally across the bridge of his nose; she inwardly grimaced at the thought of such an experience. "You're hurt," he said simply.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Instead she shrugged, putting a hand over the wound. It stung, warm and wet. Blood.  _Ugh,_  she silently groaned.  _I refuse to see the damage._

"Come with me."

"Why?"

He glanced at her over his shoulder. "To fix it." And he walked.

She subconsciously shook her head at him, finding it hard to believe that of all people she could have been rescued by, it turned out to be the kind of guy who would,  **of course** , somehow know how to frustrate her further. It didn't matter that he also happened to be incredibly attractive _._  Not at all. _Shut up. He's trying to help you,_ her mind rationalized, and she reluctantly obeyed both its implicit and implied commands, rushing behind her rescuer to catch up with his brisk strides.

* * *

Ari stared. And stared. And stared. Then blinked. And then stared some more, gaping. A soft, feminine laugh erupted from beside her.

"How did you do that?"

This person – Aerith, as the man had introduced after some fuss for bringing her to a room in a small hotel – used some kind of, well,  **power** , and in seconds the gash in her arm was gone. Just like that! Vanished! As if it were never there!

Unbelievable.

"It's a healing spell," she explained gently.

"A spell?" Ari looked up into comforting green eyes. "Like... magic?"

Aerith nodded, smiling.

Ari exhaled in awe. Magic. Real magic. Real, in-your-face, showy, sparkly, pretty, colorful, useful magic. She couldn't believe it.

"So, where do you come from?"

All happy thoughts instantly vanished from her mind. A picture of home formed in their place, and she hung her head in dread. Aerith watched silently, her expression softening in understanding.

"I see... Have you just arrived, then?"

Ari stared up at her in surprise. "New one," that guy had said. Did this sort of thing happen often? Were there others in her situation? Did that mean she would find the others here, too? Hope filled her. That was great news! Well, relatively great. But great!

"Those creatures that attacked you are called Heartless," Aerith interrupted her thoughts, elaborating with, "Those without hearts."

"Heartless?" Despite not having asked for an explanation, she wanted one regardless. It was about time some light was shed on her situation. Those creatures, those  **freaks** , stole two of the most important people in her life from her, snatched them away right before her eyes. They stole Reina _._   **Reina!**  Who in their right mind would attempt such a thing knowing she was her sister? Ari would find out. Then she'd find a way to erase them if it was the last thing she did. A silent rage scratched beneath the surface of her skin.

Aerith nodded calmly. "They're created from the darkness in people's hearts."

"Why are they after us?"

"They're after every heart," she said. Then, "Are they what happened to your world?"

Ari stared at her.  _My world...?_ She would have asked more, asked how Aerith knew such a thing, but somehow, looking in her eyes curiously, she got the feeling the older girl knew a great deal, enough to overwhelm her current state of mind. Instead she said, "They took my sister. And Hikaru. Have you seen them? Can I find them here?" It would be perfect. They'd reunite and find a way home and forget this crazy shit ever happened.

Aerith watched the girl's eyes light up in hope, but she could only helplessly shake her head. "I'm sorry," she said sadly as the hope dimmed in Ari's eyes.

Silence remained as Ari fought the sadness that threatened to flood her senses. _Reina..._ She forced it aside. This was neither the place nor the time. Then something occurred to her. "That man..." she began, "he fought them. Got rid of them... Saved me."

She nodded. "That man is Leon."

"Leon..." she repeated. "Can you fight them, too?"

Another nod.

"Will you teach me?"

Apparently this question she was not expecting. She remained silent for a moment, contemplating the suggestion. "I'll speak to Leon," she finally answered with a smile.

"Hmm." This wasn't the answer she wanted. As strong –  _and attractive_ , she reminded herself – as he was, he made her feel  **awkward** _._ She didn't much like this Leon. But she now figured, seeing as how he had brought her here to have her healed, Aerith's abilities were probably more strongly concentrated on healing. She mentally groaned. But did that really mean Aerith had to include him?

The healer giggled, as if she somehow had an inkling as to the thoughts running through Ari's head. "Don't worry. He's not so bad. I promise."

A skeptical grin was all she could muster. "But I don't have any weapons... Or magic." That's right. Her fists didn't seem to faze those  **Heartless** in the least. Training would be useless without something to train  **with**.

"I'm sure we'll think of something." Aerith smiled again, and one look at her sent a wave of relief through Ari. No wonder she was a healer. She made everything seem so calm.

Finally, Ari mirrored her smile. "Thank you."


	4. Chapter 4

“Try to hit me.”

Ari stared at the brown haired man before her. Specifically, the brown haired man with a giant “gunblade,” they called it, resting against his shoulder leisurely.

What?

He just waited, watching her with that same bored expression on his face. Honestly, had Aerith not asked him personally, he probably would have never even bothered with her.

More importantly, did he really expect her to attack him? That thing was really intimidating, to say the least. She wasn't so sure this was a good idea anymore.

“What are you waiting for?” Obviously, patience was not on his list of virtues.

She braced herself, sighing deeply in an attempt to calm her nerves. _Alright, Ari. Just... do what you usually do._ What did she usually do? She was only ever good at getting into grizzly fist fights with idiots and bullies, the silly kinds of kids that sought comfort for their insecurities in the misfortunes of one as pure and precious as her sister. Sure, she'd always had an affinity for sharp weapons, but she was in no way **experienced** with or against such things. _This is suicide... I'm gonna get skewered._ She shifted her body into a fighting stance and didn't pause, launching herself at her skilled opponent. She drew back a fist as she prepared for a punch, but found herself hitting air upon execution.

With a blink, she paused and looked around. _Shit h_ _e's fast,_ she realized. He had sidestepped her attack as if it were nothing.

“You're too slow.”

“Tch.” He certainly knew how to piss a girl off. He was lacking **nothing** in that department. She twisted on her heels and leapt at him again, sweeping her leg up for a blow to his head. He ducked, swinging his gunblade around at her other foot, successfully sweeping her off both feet. She caught the weight of her body with a palm to the ground, pushing herself back up and around to face him.

“Hm. Pathetic. Try again.”

And so she did. Again and again, he evaded her attacks. Her muscles were still sore, she was getting thirsty, and this was getting her nowhere.

“You're slowing down,” he told her after what seemed like her umpteenth failed attempt, studying her tired, petite frame. “Two minutes to regain your breath before we resume.” He strolled to a wall and leaned back against it, closing his eyes as if to tune the world out.

Her body dropped to the hard, paved ground. _This is ridiculous_ , she thought incredulously. No matter how many times she went after him, by the time she reached him it was if he were never there to begin with. How fast did she have to be to catch him? Where did he learn to move so quickly? He wasn't even **close** to breaking a sweat, and here she was already having trouble catching her breath.

When did she suddenly get so weak? She lifted a hand to her chest, running her fingers absently along a familiar pendant. The vision of tears and terror marring her sister's features played itself in loops within her mind, accompanied cruelly by the soundtrack of her laughter from only hours earlier that same day. 

No. She could not afford to stop. Not ever. Not even if it killed her. Not if it meant the suffering of her sister.

Her steeled gaze lifted to Leon, a silent determination hardening her resolve, refueling her will to try again. She would land a hit. She would fight on equal ground. And if she had to, she would **surpass** him. She no longer cared what it took to get there. If it was possible, if the potential was there, she would find a way.

Slowly, she picked herself back up again, waiting for him to open his eyes. He did, and the look in his eyes told her he had been waiting for her to do so all along.

He pushed himself off the wall and took a number of steps forward, this time leaving his gunblade behind. “Let's try this again.”

She sprang forward without missing a beat.

~

“Well, gotta admit. She definitely has the heart,” a petite, short haired ninja looked down at the two fighting in the open space below, leaning on a single arm held steady against the rail overlooking the narrow courtyard.

Aerith nodded beside her. “I wonder...”

“Hm?” The ninja lifted her brows in question, but kept her eyes on the progress.

“She's looking for her friends, too. Just like him.”

This time, the shorter girl turned to face her. “Heh? Maybe we should have sent her with them, then. She's not gonna find anyone hangin' around here.”

But Aerith shook her head. “I think we're taking the right path, training her.”

“Not ready, huh? Poor girl.” She bent forward, folding her arms atop the rail as she turned back to the two below.

“I don't think she'll stay that way for long, Yuffie.” Aerith smiled. “She's handled it well so far.”

“You really think it'll do any good?” Despite the occasional sign that hinted at some basic combat training, the girl she saw was obviously struggling beyond her means. If there was going to be any major breakthrough in her progress, it might take more time than they actually had. It didn't look like she would be any real asset to the cause as far as Yuffie could see.

Aerith just smiled down at them. “You never know,” she said softly.

To this, Yuffie only shrugged. “Well, she certainly isn't lacking any will.”

~

 

“This is **amazing**!” Two hands and a face pressed against a window, looking out at the endless array of stars beyond – all of them other worlds, they had explained to him.

“Every time one of those disappear, a world has been swallowed by the darkness,” a high, coarse male voice explained.

The words saddened and angered him all at once, adding to his determination against the Heartless.

“We're almost there, Sora,” another, deeper voice said.

“Already?!” Sora pushed himself away from the window beside him and turned his attention to the view up front, where his companions sat side by side in the cockpit of their gummi ship. Sure enough, there was a world steadily growing larger as they closed in on it.

Maybe, just maybe, Riku and Kairi would be waiting for him there.

~

“Dammit! Dammit, dammit, **dammit!** ” Leon was, in a word, **infuriating**. She had pulled every trick she had up her sleeve, every move she had **and** didn't have was attempted, but that bastard **refused** to stay **still** _._ She couldn't even manage one hit. One hit! And they had been going at this for hours! How many hours, she didn't know anymore. She had lost count after the first.

“Enough.” He jolted her out of her thoughts. “No more for today.” He tossed a bottle of water at her which she forced her arm to swing up for.

She winced when she caught it. _My body's gonna be a pain in the ass tomorrow,_ was the only thought in her mind as she chugged the water down. Now all she longed for was sleep.

“You should drink this.” Footsteps approached her as she drank the last of the water and she instantly recognized the voice as Aerith's. She turned around to look at her as she capped the now empty water bottle. The gentle healer had a small vile in her hand.

“What is it?”

“A potion. It'll help you get some of your strength back.”

She took the vile from her slowly, examining it directly in front of her face, her eyes squinting at it. It looked... creepy. But if Aerith told her it was okay, then chances were it was okay, right? She chugged it and instantly cringed. Such a bitter taste went down her throat, it took more energy than it was worth to stop herself from gagging. That stuff was positively horrid. But as she waited for the effects of the bitter taste to fade, the effects of the potion itself began to course through her muscles, easing the stiff pain that was keeping her from moving as freely as she would have liked. It was like... well, magic.

“Wow. Thanks.” She smiled gratefully.

Aerith returned the gesture. “You're welcome. You should get some rest now. You'll likely have an early start tomorrow.”

Ari detected a hint of apology in Aerith's gentle voice, which probably meant things would only be getting harder from here. _Leon's a slave driver_ , she decided. _Even his friends know it_. But she only nodded, too tired to argue or comment. Instead, she followed Aerith silently back to the hotel.

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! SO sorry! I've been adulting WAY too hard this month. It's been longer than I intended for it to be, but the truth is I must have read, edited, re-edited, and rewritten this chapter about 20 times and I'm STILL not happy with it. But I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, so I'm moving on. 
> 
> There's a ton of stuff going on in my life at sonic speed right now, so it may be that I'll only be able to crank out a chapter like this once every month for the next few. Good news is I have several chapters already written - they just need major reviewing and tweaking. 
> 
> Anyway, for those who've picked up the manga in addition to the game, you'll be quite familiar with bits of this chapter. Enjoy!  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------

CH. V

 

Three little ducks. That's what she was looking at. Three little ducks, identical but for the different color shirts they wore, the purpose being to tell them apart, no doubt.

_Who the hell dresses their ducks?_

Ari just stared.

After days of suffering through Leon's rigorous training, he offered her a single day of reprieve under one fine caveat: the list of shopping errands she now held between her fingers. So here she was, staring, bewildered, at the intriguingly random sight of three little ducklings in a shop with not another soul in sight. They waddled around, busying themselves with the tending of the space, a surprisingly heightened sense of awareness for their well stocked surroundings aiding them. It was only moments before one of them noticed her. Abashedly, it startled, crying out comically in alarm and earning the attention of the other two.

Then, it spoke.

“Oh! A customer! How can I help you? Uhm... Oh yeah, are you here to buy or sell?”

She drew her brows together, not quite sure how to approach this particular situation. In the silence, the green-clad duckling blinked.

“Erm- Hello there? Is there something on my face?”

She blinked back. “You can talk.”

He blinked again. “So can you.”

Another blink, this time with a mild blush. “But... Um...”

“I'm Huey!” One in red dropped what he was doing and pounced upon the front counter, waddling toward her before plopping down enthusiastically. “That's Duey,” he pointed at the one in blue, “and Louie,” he said, indicating the one who'd spoken first.

“You're ducks.”

Huey cocked his head, Duey laughed but continued his chores, but Louie shot back, “You're human. What's your point?”

“Uhm. Well...”

“So how can we help ya?” Huey said.

There came a muffled crash, presumably from somewhere outside, its effects reverberating through the floor and shaking briefly the walls of the establishment. Ari flinched, but the others seemed more exasperated than anything else.

“Probably that crazy old coot building weird things again!”

“I bet it's that moogle cooking up something wacky.”

She no longer cared who was saying what, or frankly how. For a moment she wondered if she should rush out and take a look, but quickly thought better of it. Between her curiosity and the possibility of disappointing Leon, well, she'd naturally much rather deprive one in favor of avoiding the other. The thought brought with it a sigh, another blink, and a shake of her head before she pushed aside the immediate oddities at hand and set back to work as Leon's errand girl.

* * *

 

“ **Never again!** ”

Yuffie froze mid-step as she descended the steps into the courtyard of First District. Eyes rounded and head reeled back, she slowly let settle the comical sight of a frazzled trio making their way through gates of Traverse Town: Donald, ever the rambunctious old duck, was falling over himself giving poor Sora the scolding of a lifetime while their bipedal canine companion Goofy simply stumbled on beside them, dazed from what she assumed was the crash she'd heard only moments ago. From the looks of things, the culprit was clear. It wasn't difficult from that point to put two and two together. They had obviously crash landed – thankfully _–_ somewhere beyond the gates of town. She almost shook her head, but as they approached was forced to stifle a bubble of laughter at the entirely nonchalant expression on the young Keyblade wielder's face. Sheepish as he seemed, he was anything but as apologetic as Donald thought he ought to be.

It was good to see them getting along so well.

“Hey Yuffie! We're back!” The boy beamed and waved.

Yuffie grinned devilishly. “I can see that. Sounds like you boys are having tons of fun out there.” Donald focused his wrathful attention on her, and she instantly shot her hands up in surrender. “I kid, I kid!”

He eyed her suspiciously.

“I sort of crash landed our ship.”

“ **My** ship!”

“Right, right,” Sora said appeasingly.

The duck mumbled a string of curses in return.

Yuffie chuckled. “No worries. We'll have it looked at and fixed up in no time.”

“How's everything here?”

Yuffie turned her attention to Goofy as Donald finally fell into silence. “Peachy. How're things out there?”

They looked amongst each other, and Sora smiled briefly. “It's amazing!” He said. “But... the Heartless are everywhere. Do you know where we can find Leon? There's something we need to ask him.”

Her response came smoothly. “Sure. You can probably find him in his usual training spot. There's a waterway in the alley behind the hotel. Take a look.”

“I will. Thanks!” He shot forward without a second thought.

“Sora, wait up!” With an exasperated huff, Donald took off after him.

Calmly, Goofy turned to the ninja. “See ya later, then.” He sprinted on behind them.

Yuffie watched as each of them disappeared in turn from sight, laughing softly when she was alone once more, though this didn't last long. As she turned back to continue into the courtyard, she quickly found herself face to face with their young trainee rounding the corner, a bag of items swinging from one hand and the other holding a small sheet of paper before her slightly bowed head. The girl looked up, mildly startled.

“Oh. Yuffie.”

“Hm?” Her lips instantly stretched into a wide smile. “Hey, girl! What're you up to? Doin' a little shopping?”

Ari eyed the bag in her hand, then Yuffie's smile. “Running errands for Leon.”

“Oh, **really**? So I guess you'll be headed there soon, huh?”

“Uhm... do you need me to relay something?” That smile of hers hadn't budged. Ari regarded the ninja cautiously.

“Nope! Not at all. Say hi, will ya?”

“Uh...?”

“Go on then.”

Ari pointed, the paper creasing noisily in her grasp. “I still have more to do.”

Yuffie's expression became one of curiosity as her eyes followed the length of Ari's arm to the accessory shop doors looming behind her.

“Oh. Well, can't be holding you up then.” One dismissive wave later, as they began to part ways, she stopped once more and turned back to Ari. “Almost forgot! He's in the waterway behind the hotel when you're done. He trains there often. Likes the solitude or something.” She started off again, throwing another wave over her shoulder. “Anyway, catch ya later!”

Ari watched her leave as she mulled over her words. _Right_. A gorgeous, evil slave driver waiting for her alone a dark waterway behind a hotel. She frowned and vigorously shook her head. Yuffie was completely insane if she thought she'd be taking that bait. Now slightly annoyed and utterly confused, she warily made her way up the remaining steps and through the threshold of the accessory shop, wondering for a moment if she'd meet any more chattering ducklings running this one, too. Or a goat, perhaps. Or maybe a dragon. That might just have been worth all the weirdness and insanity, actually.

“How can I- Oi! Another kid, huh?”

She nearly jumped out of her skin. Eyes wide, she stared at the source of the gruff, boisterous voice that seemed to hit her like a train to the face. The shock soon gave way to relief at the sight of a single man standing behind a counter. This realization then led to her features warping into in an exasperatedly inquisitive one.

“ _Another_ kid? What's that supposed to mean?”

“Ah, forget it. No helping it, I guess, the way things are.”

Confused and frustrated, she tossed the irksome question marks settling heavily upon her head to the wind. Clearly, everything insisted on being weird and vague this day. It was time to get over it. “Well... whatever. Look. I'm a kid with money. You run this place or what, old man?”

Thrown aback, his face met hers with an unamused scowl, his jagged features tense and blue eyes glinting dangerously. She met it head on with a silent challenge of her own, and for a moment they remained that way, each staring the other down remorselessly until he let forth a great guffaw and settled into a tight, teeth baring grin. “Alright little lady. Welcome! You wanna shop, I'm your man. Not your **old** man, mind you.”

“If I'm a kid, you're definitely old.”

Momentarily disgruntled, he laughed once more. “Point made, sassy pants.” The tension dissolved from his wide grin. “S'what I get for doing a buddy a favor, huh? Ain't my shop, you know. My real job is way more interesting.” He lifted his hands to rest them on his hips. “So what can I getcha?”

Finally relaxing, she proceeded. After this point her final errand was a breeze, and soon she was on her way back out into the courtyard and contemplating her next move. She considered for a moment taking Yuffie's suggestion to heart, then shook her head to rid it of the thought. As a matter of fact, she would do no such thing simply **because** Yuffie suggested it, she decided. Frankly, she'd had enough of Leon anyway, and if he enjoyed the solitude then he certainly wouldn't mind her taking her sweet time to get back to him. Besides, there were other, safer routes she could be taking. She liked safe.

Aerith it was, then.

Bags swaying and vials clinking, Ari focused drearily on finding Aerith before any stray Heartless found her searching first. Thankfully, she'd had much better luck since arriving, and for the most part the Heartless seemed to have a less imposing presence with every passing day. For a brief moment, it prompted curiosity. But that would have to wait.

With high hopes that Aerith would be waiting in the first place she looked, she decided said stop would be the house in Third District. With the thought of the Heartless weighing on her mind, her muscles grew tense as she just about tiptoed her way up the stairs to the single door overlooking the slope. At the top, she lurched toward the door, diving in and sighing in relief as it creaked to a close behind her, the only sound that followed her. A hand to her heart brought mild amusement at the speed with which it pounded against her chest.

A familiar chuckle found her ears, followed closely by her name. Ari smiled. Safe. She directed her smile to the brunette before her eyes drifted to the steaming tea kettle and glasses laid out before her.

“Would you like some tea?”

Curiously, Ari arched a brow. “Who are you making so much for?”

She smiled. “Leon has some visitors. Why don't you join us?”

The other brow joined the first. “Visitors? You mean more like me?” The thought broke her heart and gave her hope all at once. Maybe...?

“Well... something like that. I'll make you a glass, too. You should meet them. Come with me.”

A light flickered in her mind's eye. She thought back to her conversation with Yuffie. Nodding shortly, she accepted the invitation and followed Aerith to their destination.

* * *

“So you found a keyhole.”

Leon swept his eyes thoughtfully over the three that sat before him, the light of a lantern flickering nearby, creating shadows that danced playfully across their figures as they sat in a circle upon the mossy floor of the small cave carved deep within the waterway.

“Yep! Well, more like it found us. The Keyblade started glowing, and then there was this sound, like a door locking.” Sora held up the weapon in question as if to emphasize his point.

“Ansem wrote about them in his report. According to the report, every world has a keyhole hidden somewhere, beyond which lies the heart of that world.”

“The heart of the world?” Goofy echoed in wonder.

“There is no heart in existence that escapes the taint of darkness, people and worlds alike. Within this darkness, the Heartless reside, biding their time as they grow in the silence of the darkness and ignorance of the unaware, until they've devoured the hearts of all. Such is their nature.”

Donald inadvertently shuddered.

Leon continued. “The worlds whose hearts have been claimed by the Heartless are shattered and swallowed into the darkness, lost to us forever.”

“Forever?” Sora gasped.

Leon's eyes drifted to the Keyblade by Sora's side, and the trio's eyes followed suit. “That, Sora, is the reason you have to continue wielding the Keyblade. It chose you, and as its chosen, this task falls to you. The hearts of the worlds **must** be locked to avoid the infestation of darkness.”

A stunned silence prevailed over the group, lengthening steadily as they let Leon's words sink in.

Sora gulped. “But... I don't know if I can...”

“You can do it, Sora.” A new voice intervened, and the four looked up to find Aerith approaching with a tray full of goodies in hand. Beside her, coming up a few steps behind, was a new face with which Sora was instantly curious. “It's not so bad,” Aerith said.

But he was already focused on the next big thing. “Who're you?” Curiously, he tilted his head. “I don't think we've met before, right?” He pushed himself up into a standing position and held a hand out to the newcomer, beaming as he did. “I'm Sora! What's your name?”

Momentarily shaken off guard by the boy's forward friendliness, realizing briefly that he couldn't have been any older than she, Ari opened her mouth to speak, but Leon took the liberty of beating her to it.

“This is Ari. She landed here some days ago after her world was attacked. Like you, Sora, she's lost and searching for her friends.”

Ari scowled at Leon as Sora's expression softened considerably, but it was quickly replaced with another shining smile. “Don't worry. You'll find 'em! I know it.”

Finally, she turned to him and said, “Have you?”

“Huh?”

“Found yours.”

He paused. “Well... no. Not yet. But I definitely will! No matter what.” The hand he'd offered to her in greeting was now fisted in determination, hanging over his midriff.

Such conviction; it begged admiration. 

Goofy stood next, appearing beside his unguarded companion. “I'm Goofy, and this is Donald.” He motioned to a seated duck. “We're Sora's friends. Nice to meet ya.”

Her eyes roamed incredulously over the new acquaintance. _Tall_ , was her first thought, then, _**dog**_ _. It's a_ _ **dog**_ _. A_ _ **dog**_ _and a_ _ **duck**_ _. Another duck. That's four ducks and a dog. Talking dog and ducks._

What the hell kind of place was this? Maybe she was just in a coma somewhere and none of this was actually happening.

“R-right... Okay then. Nice... to meet you, too,” she said, wide eyes blinking slowly as her wits dangled dangerously far from reach.

“Now that we've settled introductions, we come bearing tea and snacks! Anyone hungry?” Aerith held up the tray in an enticing presentation.

Even in her stunned disposition, the way their faces lit up instantly sent warmth to Ari's heart, and she suddenly found herself holding back a boiling giggle as three stomachs simultaneously growled in approval. Aerith's laugh rang out and echoed like bells through the cave. Within moments, all six were gathered around as tea was served and snacks were wiped clean from the tray.

“So,” Aerith said, “what will you do, Sora? The Heartless will follow you wherever you go now that you have the Keyblade. You know this, don't you?”

Ari's attention immediately piqued at the statement.

Sora nodded, a frown marring his boyish features.

Ari claimed the short silence for herself. “Where have you been that they've been following you?” Then she suddenly blanched and began looking around her. “Wait, does that mean...?”

“It's highly possible,” Leon warned. She stared at him.

“We've been off world,” Sora overlapped.

Her stunned expression shifted dramatically between the two. _Off world?_ Everything in her mind came to a grinding halt. Aerith had mentioned worlds, too, hadn't she, that first night she'd woken up in this place? Suddenly the literal nature of her words hit Ari full force.

“W-wait just a minute here,” she dragged out.

“Your world and this one are just two of countless worlds. Every star you see out there is another world shining in the night sky,” Aerith calmly explained.

_Every star_. She looked up at the rock ceiling. Well, that made perfect sense, but-

“That's right,” Goofy said matter-of-factly. “And every time a star goes out, it means a world was swallowed by the darkness.”

Her eyes snapped back to him. The memory of the darkness that had ripped the girls apart flew rapidly through her mind. Her world was one of those stars. Did that mean her world was _gone_? A distinctly acute iciness began crawling its way up her limbs.

Aerith brought a gentle hand to rest upon her shoulder. “That doesn't mean all hope is lost.”

Ari's vision blurred. Through the haze of her mind, she heard Aerith speak like a voice through mud.

“I don't... understand...”

Leon shifted the focus as he rose and slowly made his way over to a far wall. “You can't let the darkness overrule your hearts, no matter what happens.” He bent forward to a wooden chest resting against the wall in shadow, opening it and reaching in. As he straightened back up, a long, wrapped object now bundled in his hands, he looked at Sora. “Let the light and your friends be your strength.” He started back as he spoke. “We'll help in whatever way we can, but we can't go with you. However, there is someone here who could be of more help to you on your journey.” He sat back down with the object still hidden and resting over his lap. “Sora, take Ari with you. Together, you can fight the darkness and find your friends.”

Her horrified expression turned now to Leon, unblinking. Maybe it really was a coma. _Please_ , her inner voice pleaded. Home couldn't really be gone.

**“Absolutely not!”**

Ari's shoulders twitched and stiffened at the sound of Donald's high pitched voice, a cry that left a terrible ringing in her ears as it echoed against the surface of the surrounding stone. He was on his feet, his feathered hands balled into fists. All eyes were now on him.

Sora was stunned. “Huh? But why not?”

Donald turned to stare at him. “We're on a mission here! We don't take charity cases.”

Pride wounded, she reacted automatically. “I'm not a charity case!” Was she seriously being belittled by a duck right now?

“She could be of great help to you,” Leon said calmly. Donald was aghast, the look on his face leaving no room for doubt regarding his feelings on the matter.

“I don't think so!” The bird turned his head away and crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. “We have no room for extra baggage.”

Ari opened her mouth to counter, but once again Leon beat her to it, opting for a diplomatic route.

“You'll undoubtedly encounter many dangerous enemies along the way, and your journey isn't likely to be getting any easier. It wouldn't hurt to have someone who can fight with you.”

Ari huffed. “Don't I get a say in this?”

Leon turned to his trainee. “There's no question you have a long way to go, but it won't do you any good staying here. Especially if you want to find your friends.”

Silenced, her lips pursed. Leon was right on both accounts and she knew it. Aside from her training, it made little sense now to sit around here waiting for something to happen, and with the knowledge of other worlds out there, even if her world **was** gone, there was a still the chance that all her loved ones were out there somewhere just as she was, though Donald was obviously intent on being a barrier to it.

Luckily, Sora seemed to have made up his mind already, and he was on her side.

“Leon's right. Come with us! We'll help you find your friends.”

“ **What?!** ”

“Right? Come on, guys! Goofy?”

Two pairs of eyes, one hopeful and one warning, fell heavily on the canine. Goofy suddenly found himself in a stickier situation than he'd have liked. “Uh, well,” he started slowly, bringing a finger to his chin in thought. Carefully, he said, “The king's order was to stick with the Key, right? And... Sora has the Key... So that means if Sora helps someone with the Key, we help them, too, right? And maybe she can even help us find the king!”

Leon and Aerith exchanged glances, one smirking and the other chuckling softly as Donald deflated and swiped a heavy hand helplessly over his face. Comic as the vision may have been, a familiar echo left Ari feeling unsettled. _The key is broken._  Her dreams had almost been entirely forgotten up until that point, but now the words whispered then were practically a mantra, and she could not seem to forget neither them nor the voice that accompanied.

“What is this Key?”

A moment of silence passed as the spotlight shone on her. Leon spoke again. “He means the Keyblade. Sora's weapon – or rather, the weapon that chose Sora.”

As if on cue, the boy in question lifted it once more toward the center of their gathering, where all eyes present could feast upon it.

As far as Ari could tell, it just looked like an oversized key; no blade to speak of, except for the fashion in which it was forged, to be held as a blade and operated as such. “The weapon that _chose_ you?”

It disappeared in a flash of light as Sora shrugged. “I guess so.”

“It's a special weapon,” Leon said. "One made of light."

“That's the thing that Aerith mentioned earlier. The Heartless will follow you so long as you have it? But if it _chose_ you, then it's not like you can get rid of it.”

“Why would I do that?”

She paused. “You _want_ them to follow you?”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Well, when you put it that way... But if it means there's something I can do about the darkness, my world, and my friends, then I say bring it on.”

“And they will,” Leon said before anyone else could speak again. "So you each have to be prepared." His hands moved slowly to unfurl the cloth heap in his lap revealing a colorful, shimmering blade. “Ari, this is for you. I can't promise it's as good as Sora's Keyblade, but you'll need a weapon on your journey if you're to join them and find your friends, too.”

“For... **me**?” She gaped at the thing; had she seen such a vision anywhere else, she might have thought it purely for decorative purposes. It was a pretty object of soft, bright colors, beginning with a green hilt that wove into delicate tendrils reaching out from either end of the cross-guard to form an abstract, intricate pattern around the base of the blade, ending in what Ari imagined to be delicate arms reaching up in hopes that it might reach the same height as the blade itself, which then faded from green to icy blue all the way up to its diagonal tip. From her position, she guessed the blade could have shared the width of her forearm. Two more slightly thicker tendrils curved downward to form a basket over the grip, and beyond that was a pommel that rounded out to an elegant point. Despite its beauty, it looked like a deadly, graceful weapon in Leon's hands. His fingers curled around the grip as he held it up for her inspection, the cloth sliding to the floor beside him. _Whoa._

“There's a shop here in town where you can create valuable custom items you wouldn't otherwise find elsewhere. We had this made for you,” Aerith said, smiling. The corners of Ari's lips curled upwards of their own volition at the declaration.

Leon presented her the sword with both hands from which she lifted the weapon awkwardly and delicately. “I don't know what to say.”

He simply set his weight against his hands as he leaned back. “You don't need to say anything. We're in this together and we have to support each other. Such friends might not be so easy to come by out there.”

Ari beamed, utterly baffled at the man's heartfelt sentiment that now shone through the usual persistent edge in his demeanor. She answered with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Find your friends, both of you, and succeed in your mission no matter what. We can't let the darkness win.” He looked at both Ari and Sora in turn, and together they smiled and nodded before turning to face each other with equal resolve and excitement. But one immediate problem lingered in Ari's mind.

_How the hell do I use this thing?_

 

 

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I sure feel awful. Let this sit for far longer than I intended or expected, but here's the next chapter! Perhaps in celebration of the fact that we finally have a release date? :'D Have you made your pre-order yet? I know I have!!
> 
> Fairly short chapter, this one. But I hope to make up for it with more chapters coming soon. 
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How did you do that thing you did anyway?” Ari waved her hands incoherently before her.

Across the dining table at the house in Third District, Sora blinked his wide blue eyes in response, his expression one of fascinated perplexity. “Um...?”

“You know. Your Keyblade thing,” she explained. “You made it disappear like that.”

“Oh! You mean that!” He smiled in understanding, then shrugged sheepishly. “Now that you mention it, I don't really know. It just kind of comes when I need it and goes when I don't.”

It was Ari's turn to blink now, unamused. “Well that's just bullshit.”

“Huh? But I'm telling the truth!”

She gave not but a sigh as Sora mildly frowned, silence overtaking them for a moment as she deflated and he watched her, dejected.

“I know you are. That's what sucks.” She leaned back and crossed her arms, thin brows drawn together in frustration.

In return, Sora's expression softened. “Don't worry. I'm sure you can do it, too, just the same. We'll talk to Leon about it when he gets here.”

“You mean our trickster slavedriver who asked us to meet him where he isn't present at some ungodly early hour rather than let us sleep while he probably is?”

“You're not really a morning person, are you?”

“Huh. You're a sharp one.”

In a low voice just high enough for her to hear, he threw out jokingly, “you're almost worse than Donald.”

As if on cue, the front door swung loosely inward as the usual bored eyes of Leon appeared and swept over them. “You guys ready?”

“Yep!” And Sora was on his feet, all too happy to flee the homicidal glare he had only just incurred from his new friend, and though it may have seemed otherwise, he found himself suddenly rethinking the eager decision he had made the day before to assist in her training when Leon had asked. With their ship damaged and in the shop for repairs, they were stranded for days, but that didn't mean they were allowed to rest for that long, Sora knew. If he didn't get stronger, he stood a much lesser chance of finding his friends again. But that didn't mean he couldn't make a few new friends in the meantime, or help them get stronger, too. So long as none of them wanted to murder him, of course, which at the moment seemed to be precisely the case. Oops.

Ever the stoic one, Leon either didn't notice or, more probably, couldn't possibly have cared less. “Let's go.” And back out he went.

~

Hours later, the loud clang and scrape of metal on stone rang out across the Third District. What followed was a silence in the wake of its echoes, filled only by the sounds of heavy breathing.

The two adolescents stood dead center of its wide courtyard, panting, one with her hands upon her knees as she gasped for breath and eyed her new but now distant blade, while the other slowly came to stand with his own hanging at his side, his pose relaxed.

“Try it now,” he instructed helpfully.

“I can't do it, Sora.”

“C'mon, just try again. I know you'll get it.”

“You'll only lose everything if you give up.”

Ari and Sora turned their heads to look up at Leon, who stood watching them from the top of the staircase.

She pushed herself upright with a huff. “Don't you think I know that?”

“If you know it, then try again.”

Inwardly, she grumbled menacingly at Leon's very existence. How many times had she tried to do what came so easily for Sora and his fancy Keyblade? She was quite certain now that such conveniences were reserved _only_ for the Keyblade, but the more experienced idiots before her insisted otherwise.

Knowing full well the futility of arguing with him, she shut her eyes and lowered her brows to a point; after all, up to this point, following his guidance had only made her stronger, right? Though she hated admitting it in that moment, it was a truth she couldn't deny. The simple fact that she could hold and wield a sword against a more practiced opponent at all was remarkable in and of itself, and though he may have bested her again and again, much to the misery of her whimpering pride, she was still standing.

“Ari, that weapon was forged for _you_ ,” she heard Leon say. “It should obey your will. Don't overthink it. Just will it back to you.”

Breathing deeply, she lost herself within her concentration, calming her nerves and her thoughts to stillness. But as the seconds passed and all remained unchanged, Sora decided it was time to pull her back.

“You'll get there. I know you will,” he assured her with an encouraging smile.

“With time,” Leon agreed. “For now, you've been disarmed. What do you do?”

She sighed, disheartened, her eyes downcast. “Fight to the death or run for my life?”

“Aw, really?” Sora snickered, but Leon frowned.

“Aerith taught you some magic, right?”

Sheepishly, she shrugged and brought a hand up to the back of her head, entangling it within her shoulder length hair as she scratched at her scalp. “I don't think I've got it.”

“She thinks you do.”

“I can't do what she does,” she countered.

“So show me what you can do,” he shot back.

Once more, a grumble escaped her, this time a low rumble in her throat that filled the space beneath her breath. “Fine. But you're not allowed to be disappointed.”

“We won't be,” Sora replied. “Give me your best! I'm ready.”

She almost rolled her eyes, but opted to subtly shake her head instead. Allowing her eyes to close again, she pulled herself inward and brought an arm up, her palm opening up to face Sora directly. With a steady exhale, she conjured the image of her desired effect, grasping it firmly within her mind and pushing it out upon the trail of her outstretched arm. Cold air brushed against her hand before it burst out, widening like a funnel and slamming into him, pushing him back about a foot from where he'd stood.

Sora planted his feet firmly into the ground, his Keyblade slowly lowering from where he'd brought it up to shield himself. His gleefully surprised eyes found her slowly opening ones as he offered her a broad, excited grin. “That was cool!”

But Leon merely nodded, folding his arms across his chest. “From what Aerith tells me, Wind and Water come easily to you, but you lack crucial skill in other forms." He began a descent down the stairs as he spoke. "It shows itself in many forms, and it'll only grow stronger with more practiced use; don't worry if it doesn't look like what you're seeing elsewhere. You should learn to get good at using it now, before you start fighting real battles. Your enemies won't go easy on you.”

She nodded. “I know that.”

“Sora.” Leon was now in the courtyard mere feet from them both. “Teach her what you can. We don't have much time. Once repairs are complete, you should set off at once.”

The younger boy readily accepted his suggestions with a nod. “She'll be ready. We'll make sure of it.”

 _We?_ She paused. _Ah, shit._

Sure enough, over the course of the next couple days, she found herself regretting not fighting that single unassumingly evil word. From that moment on, when she wasn't sparring with Sora, she was chasing him, a disgruntled Donald, and a happily determined Goofy throughout the districts, fighting enemy after enemy, narrowly avoiding both death and Donald on many an occasion, but never without earning much undeserved displays and comments of scolding disapproval from the magic-powered duck all along the way. Each day, by the time it had ended, she found herself bloodied, bruised, and broken, muscles both known and entirely unfamiliar screaming in agony until a soothing Aerith was hanging over her with healing spells, after which she promptly blacked out only to wake to another round of the same.

This day, at least, she managed to stay awake past the healing process long enough to join her new friends for dinner.

Sora plopped himself down at the table with an exaggeratedly satisfied _ahhh_ before he folded his arms over the table and looked about him. Leon, Yuffie, Donald, Goofy, Ari, and Aerith were all gathered around, and he couldn't help but grin at the odd family they had managed to become in the short time they spent together between excursions. But there was one more familiar face still missing from the ensemble.

Just as he began to muse over the man's whereabouts, the front door flew open and in stomped the blond. “Oi! You're not starting without me, eh?!”

Ari looked up with wide eyes, recognition of the thundering, boisterous voice taking hold within seconds.

“Heh? You're the late one!” Yuffie threw back with all the familiarity of a sibling quite annoyed.

“What?! Listen here, ya brat!  
  
“Are you always this obnoxiously loud?”

Their voices ceased and their eyes turned to Ari. The man studied the girl before him in stunned silence. After a moment, the recognition clicked and when it did, he bent forward with his fists resting firmly against his waist, a wicked grin upon his face and eyes narrowed. “You're that little feisty one, ain't ya? Yeah I remember you!” He turned to the others. “What're ya doing, taking in strays?”

“Strays...?” the echoed question was a quite but indignant one.

“Ah. I see you've met,” Leon all but smirked.

Ari stared at him with eyes slitted and a brow raised incredulously. Wasn't he the one that had sent her to his shop in the first place? It seemed even Leon, the oh-so-serious slavedriver, knew a thing or two himself about playful mischief. The thought made her smirk inwardly. Never would she underestimate him again now that she knew it.

“Ari, Cid's the one who saved us when our world was shattered by the Heartless,” Aerith smiled before turning to the man in question. “Ari arrived only recently.”

A knowing look passed over his eyes, but he remained otherwise unfazed as she continued.

“She'll be accompanying the others on their journey.”

“Oh?” He moved forward and squeezed his way between the two youngest girls, Yuffie and Ari, earning a yelp of, “Hey!” from the former, before leaning in toward the latter so that her space was no longer her own. Ari flinched in annoyance as he bore into her with his calculating blue eyes. “Well, you've definitely got guts,” he smiled then, straightening back in his spot before dropping a heavy hand upon her head. “Good luck, little lady. It ain't all cake and kittens out there.”

All she longed for right then was to chop his giant hand right off. But, seriously, _cake and kittens_? This guy was all sorts of ridiculous.

“Quit buggin' her already,” Yuffie's voice rose from the other side of him.

“Mind your own business, why don't you?!”

The laughter of Sora and Aerith broke out and mingled together joyously as Leon simply rolled his eyes and focused on dinner in the same moment Donald entered the noisy mix in a failed attempt to shut them up, after which the sound of Goofy's mirth joined that of Sora's and Aerith's in an attempt to calm his feathery companion. Ari looked about her, bewildered and exasperated. What a chaotic lot they were. 

Slowly, her mouth curved upward as something bubbled to the surface from within her. Giving in with a sigh, she let escape a soft giggle as she shook her head in disbelief. A chaotic lot they most certainly were, but within that chaos she recognized a shared trust and bond of friendship that took most people a lifetime to build, and in that instance, as she took in the scene before her, she knew she could not have stumbled upon better allies – no, _friends_ – to fight alongside in her search for her family, undoubtedly out there somewhere in the vast universe, scattered by the darkness.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ho boy. Here we go with another one. This one's maybe a monster of a chapter. Lots of dialogue. And here it started as a measly two pages until I got my hands sticky with it again. Not kidding. 
> 
> Bear with me now. A few more things that have to happen, and then a few more familiar chapters before I take you far, far away from the canon timeline. I'm super eager to make things happen, so here's to hoping the next few chapters won't suffer for my impatience! 
> 
> Without further ado...
> 
> \------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CH. VII

“So this is your real job??”

Sora, Ari, Yuffie, Aerith, Donald, Leon, and Goofy were all present, standing in a vast open space on an outstretched road leading away from Traverse Town, gates looming unthreateningly behind them. They each in turn stepped off the road to its right, making their way toward a large, colorful ship sitting in a dirt clearing, beneath which Cid ceased his tinkering to face them with his hands upon his hips and a triumphant grin upon his face, tools in hand.

“You got it, little lady! Though it seems I'm doing a lot more than that lately...” he finished with a low grumble, and Ari could not help but tilt her head in curiosity.

Before she could even think to ask, a defeated Donald, worn down by his own impatience, demanded an answer. “Is our ship ready yet?”

“Impatient lot, aren't ya? Your navigation gummi's installed and ready to go. Need a few more hours to complete repairs, and then she'll be ready for 'er travels.”

“It's basically a space ship, isn't it?” Her tone flat, Ari stared at the giant machine that towered over them, all range of bright colors painted across its various sides, a giant dome of a cockpit peaking over the top.

“That's exactly what it is,” Leon confirmed.

“Of course it is! What'd ya think, we'd be flying on the back of a unicorn?”

“Wait, is that a thing?”

But the magician was already on to more important things as he shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “It looks like we came out here for nothing. C'mon, Goofy. Let us know when it's finished,” he threw over his shoulder at Cid.

“Hold yer horses, now! There's still the matter of payment, y'know.”

“Payment?” Donald, Goofy, and Sora all turned to look at the older man. Ari simply raised a brow at the unfolding scene, and the remaining trio said nothing.

“That's right. I'm still runnin' a business here!” A few steps forward later, he produced a book with a lock and held it out to them. “There's an old house in Third District. Not hard to find; there's a symbol like a flame on the door. I need you to head there and deliver this book.”

“What is it? Some kinda exchange diary?” Sora reached out to take it, holding it up level with his eyes to examine it, twisting his wrist left and right as his eyes scanned its covers curiously.

“What? Of course not!” Cid bellowed. “Just get the job done, will ya?” With that, he turned around with a single, frustrated, “ _Sheesh_ ,” under his breath and made his way back to the ship. Not another word was exchanged between them as Cid's upper half disappeared somewhere within the body of the ship and the sound of tinkering with metal met their ears.

Donald eyed the man grudgingly. “Take your own advice, dummy,” he mumbled.

Goofy and Sora exchanged glances of confusion before the spiky haired brunette shrugged and turned toward the others.

“We'll leave you to it, then,” Leon dismissed before he and the others headed back into town, leaving the four companions to carry on with their new task.

“If you need us,” Yuffie waved over her shoulder, “you know where to find us.”

* * *

 

“I think this is it.”

They stood before a single wooden door at the end of a short alley, tucked away in an otherwise lonely corner of the district. True to Cid's scarce description, the door was bland but for a single flame etched into its center surrounded by deeply carved symbols of some foreign sort, perhaps some ancient language none of them could read.

Sora moved forward and brought a hand to the door, running a hand smoothly over the symbol in contemplation.

“So let's leave it and go already,” Donald ordered. 

“We should make sure the owner gets it.” The boy tapped his knuckles to the door three times and waited, his bright red shorts a stark contrast against the shadowy dark wood of the lonely door.

“We didn't think to ask who lives here before we came,” Ari mused aloud.

“What does it matter?” said Donald. “We're just here to drop the stupid thing off and be on our merry way.”

“I'm sure it's just a friend of Cid's,” Goofy offered helpfully. “Maybe we'll even get to make a new friend.”

“I don't think anyone's home,” Sora said.

“Doesn't this person have a mailbox?” asked Ari, eyeing their dead-ended surrounding.

“Oh for the love of- out of my way.” Donald marched forward and pressed his feathery hands against the door, leaning into it with his full weight, which Ari reckoned must have been at least as much as Sora's. Though the duck was visibly shorter than his other human companion, that feathery mound of a butt he waddled with him wherever he went no doubt made up the difference.

They hung back and watched him curiously, waiting for some form of verdict. Moments later, he huffed in frustration. “It won't budge!”

“Hmm... sure is strange. I don't even see a doorknob.” Goofy added.

A flash of light in the darkness of the alley momentarily blinded them all. When it passed, Sora had Keyblade in hand, but his expression told them he was just as surprised as they were, blurry eyed and all. Gently, the Keyblade glowed.

“Um...?” His female companion took a step back.

After a moment of contemplative examination, the brunette no longer displayed confusion in his features. “Hang on! I have an idea." In its place, he sported a confident grin upon his boyish face, his large blue eyes sparkling. Keyblade in hand, he stood back from the door and pointed his Keyblade right at its center, lining it up with the etching of a flame. “Fire,” he commanded, and a single ball of flame flew from his blade into the door, dead center.

“It's not an invitation to burn the place down!” Ari scolded, but the other two remained fascinated. To her utter disbelief, the faint but distinct sound of a click reached her ears, and with her jaw slack she shifted her eyes to watch the door slide inward just a crack. _You've got to be kidding me._

“Good thinking, Sora!” Donald gave him a smack of approval on his back and waltzed past him right through a stranger's mysterious opening door.

“What d'ya know.” Goofy followed suit as Sora shrugged and Ari stared.

Then Sora, too, moved to pass through only to pause and take a peak behind him, Keyblade long gone. “You coming?”

In an attempt to avoid any open drooling in her bewilderment, she snapped her jaw shut and pulled herself taut. “Uhm. Yeah. Okay. Why not? Into the dark chasm of a total stranger's open magical door we go. Totally. It's fine.”

As she passed him, rambling, the boy snickered softly to himself but remained otherwise silent as they all tread softly within, passing through a wide, musty passageway, the floor soft beneath their feet and the gentle sound of moving water soothing their ears.

“What _is_ this place?” Ari wondered, listening as her softly spoken words echoed around her, unnervingly hollow.

“Some kind of cave, looks like,” Goofy had stopped a few steps ahead, and as they each in turn reached him it became abundantly clear why.

“What... Who the hell _does_ this?” What lay ahead was a deep mote surrounding a single shabby house sitting on an island just barely larger that itself. Connecting their position to the island was a set of large stone platforms, each a couple feet apart. But the strangest part was the eerie way in which these stones legitimately moved of their own accord in alternating directions so that no two neighboring stones were close enough for visitors to step from one to the other for more than a breath at best. “I mean, is this _really_ necessary?”

“Come on. Let's get this over with.” The magician led the way, followed closely by his canine pal.

Ari paused at the edge and sighed, bracing her legs for a short leap. But in an instant, she hesitated and turned to look behind her curiously. “Sora?”

Her friend was looking elsewhere entirely, his attention captured by something unseen. She was sure she had heard him speak.

“Huh?”

“Everything alright?”

He blinked at her.

Around them, Donald's voice rang obnoxiously clear. “Hello? Anyone home?”

She watched him scan his surroundings, puzzled and disoriented. “I could have sworn I-” but he shook it off with a sheepish hand behind the head and smiled. “Haha. Never mind. This place just reminds me of home a little.”

“This place? Really?”

“Yeah.” He came up beside her and beat her with a leap to the first stone. “There's a cave just like it where we played all the time.” His back was to her now, two platforms away.

With a lopsided, uncertain grin, she leapt after him. The other two were already on the other side by now, Goofy waiting encouragingly as Donald shuffled around suspiciously, seeming more like a stalker than a delivery boy as far as she could tell.

“It doesn't seem like anyone's around except us,” Goofy told them as they reached him.

“I think at this point we can just leave it at the door.” But another faint burst of light accompanied by a crack like thunder told them otherwise.

“Again?” Ari shot out exasperatedly.

But Sora seemed just as confused as she. The Keyblade hadn't returned. Stunned, they looked around them and froze. A hacking cough and a shuffling reached their ears, sounds muffled by the house as it blocked their view of what or whom had arrived.

Donald already had his hat-topped staff at the ready, and Goofy was bent over sideways trying to get a glimpse from beyond the smooth faced rounded structure. The air immediately surrounding the four was contradictorily but equally tense and flabbergasted, the latter of which won out entirely when an old man stumbled from behind the house, fanning away some imaginary dust and stumbling over himself as he approached, his grey beard wagging like a loose tail all the way down to his feet, practically sweeping the floor as he went.

Ari momentarily wondered why anyone in their right mind would put up with that. Then promptly wondered if he ever braided it.

“Ah! Well! Hello there. Can't say I've had guests in a while. Come! Let's have some tea. What are your names?”

“Uh...?” Donald blinked.

“Um, well, I'm Goofy, and this Donald, Ari, and Sora.”

“So you are! I believe I've been expecting you. Don't be shy, come on inside.”

“Wait a minute, who are you?” Ari finally wondered aloud.

“What do you mean you were expecting us?” Sora followed in the next breath.

“Patience, now. All will be told once we've had a moment to settle. Come, now.”

When the four utterly confused souls were finally gathered around a round table at the heart of his cluttered home and he had served them all a cup of tea, the kettle sitting cutely at the center within each of their reach haloed by small round biscuits, he folded his hands neatly upon the table and smiled at them.

“Now then,” he cleared his old throat. “Where were we?”

“Who are you?” Donald demanded.

He chuckled softly. “Yes, of course. Pardon me. My name is Merlin. As you can see, I'm a magician of sorts, and I'm here by request of your king to assist you.”

Donald and Goofy practically jumped out of their seats. “The king?!”

“Do you know where he is?!” Donald lurched forward against the table.

“I'm confused,” the only girl among them finally said.

They all turned to her, but Donald was the first to speak. “So what's new about that?”

She shot him a brief glare in return, then turned her attention to Merlin as he asked, “How so? What may I help clarify if I can?”

“Well... I get that their king asked you to help them, but what does that have to do with Sora and I?”  
  
“You mean _you_ ,” Donald clarified. “Sora has the Key.”

“Now, now,” the magician smiled. “Everyone has an important part to play. Don't forget, you are all his companions. And there is much in store for you because of it.”

“How do you mean?” Ari pushed, choosing to ignore the duck entirely rather than allow herself to feel that small pang of truth knocking at her chest.

“I'm sure Leon and the others have explained the situation to you four, have they not?”

Silence followed as they all looked at one another, and Sora nodded.

“The king has asked that I provide lessons in magic to better prepare you for whatever may come.”

“Do you happen to know where the king could be now?” Goofy asked him.

He shook his head. “Sadly not. We parted ways some time ago... but not before I learned the purpose of his travels. He seeks to find a way to quell the discord that has spread across existence, and continues to do so even as we speak, such that creation might be spared from being enveloped in darkness at the end of days...” He spun his tea absently and brought it to his hidden lips for a sip as a dreadful silence descended on his audience.

“Anyway,” he continued, resuming naturally with a quick pucker of his lips post sip. “Be sure to pay close attention, Sora.”

“Huh?” He blinked and straightened as though he were a schoolboy having been caught daydreaming in the midst of a lecture.

“You've done very well so far on instinct alone, but that doesn't mean you've mastered the full capacity of your Keyblade's capabilities. Conscious control of your weapon is essential to reaching its greatest potential and critical to your cause.”

“Greatest potential?”

“And you, my girl! What of you?”

She blinked and stared at him in almost the same fashion as Sora, thrown off by the sudden switch in subject. Now the one caught in the spotlight, she shifted awkwardly in her seat. “I've been training with Aerith. Apparently I have some magic, too.”

“Good! That is wonderful news. In that case, let us get started! You have much growing to do.”

* * *

 

On the way out, Ari heaved a long, tired sigh, glad to finally give her mind time to rest after finishing their quick errand that turned into an hour long session on the old magician's experience followed by a furniture attack. The girl was entirely convinced now that if it hadn't already succeeded at doing so, this whole experience was sure to drive her into madness long before she ever reunited with her family. By the time she met with them again, they would surely no longer recognize the wack job she'd become.

Were they enduring any bizarreness of their own? She suddenly wondered. They must have been. If these were the kinds of things that existed out here in the universe, they were bound to run into insanity of equal measure, right? She then found herself wondering if they would ever be able to return to their comparatively ordinary lives after this.

Or, perhaps, if they would ever be given the chance to try.

Her eyes drank in the silence of the alley as her heart sank.

“Let's head back to the others,” Sora suggested when the door had shut behind them.

“Maybe Cid's finally done with my ship.”

“Actually, I'll catch you guys later,” Ari said tiredly. “I want to stock up on a few things before we run out of time.”

“Sure. Sounds like a good plan,” Sora said as they turned a corner toward the courtyard. “We can meet you after at- wah!”

“Sora!” Goofy reached for the boy, but before anyone could do anything, a Heartless had its feet pressed into Sora's back, forcing him to stumble in shock to the ground.

“What the?!”

“Heartless!” Donald's staff was once again in hand.

“Shit,” Ari cursed at the same time.

Then suddenly it was gone.

“You've gotta stop spacing out, Sora. I thought I taught you better than that.”

They paused. Goofy and Donald stared, the former confused and the latter threatening. Sora's blue eyes could not have been wider, his cheeks reddened and mouth slack.

To Ari's puzzlement, ice dashed across the skin of her arms, leaving behind a prickly trail of goosebumps. She followed Sora's line of sight to the source of the new voice, as curious about it as she was about the strange chill that suddenly left her struggling to move.

“Ah... **Riku**!” Sora's warm voice, full of ecstatic familiarity toward this new arrival, sent her spiraling into confusion.

“I've been looking everywhere for you, Sora,” Riku said, his voice smooth and confident, the voice of one firmly in control.

“Is it really you?!”

Donald lifted his arms in a shrug as Goofy brought a finger up to his chin in contemplation, but Ari was too lost in her assessment of this Riku guy to interact accordingly. Sora had already closed the gap between them, poking and prodding and pulling at his skin to confirm the truth of his existence.

“What the hell are you doing, idiot?”

A layered curtain of silver cascaded from his scalp, a touch shorter than her own black strands.

“It really **is** you!”

Shoulders back, chest out, feet apart: secure and wholly sure of himself. Maybe even arrogant.

“Where have you been?!”

Striking green eyes. Like none she'd ever seen. They shone mere inches above a flawless smirk. She felt her cheeks tingle involuntarily.

“Is Kairi with you?”

They were focused on Sora, lids lax and hands at his side, a dark weapon held slack in one. The one he used to save Sora. They were friends. Sora was obviously far too giddy to see him.

So why is it she got the distinct feeling this **friend** was looking down on him?

“I had hoped she'd be with you.”

She flinched at his voice, a warm needle piercing relentlessly through her very core.

Sora's shoulders fell.

“Your face'll stay that way if you do that for too long, you know,” Riku smiled, watching the shorter boy with his chin high. “Look at the bright side,” he said with a dismissive shrug. “We've gotten to the outside world. We're free to go wherever the hell we want. No one to stop us. I'm sure we'll find Kairi in no time.”

As he spoke, Sora directed his eyes at something behind him.

Not noticing, he continued. “Just leave everything to me. With me around, you won't-”

But Sora had sped past him, Keyblade out, and sliced through another thirsty shadow.

Donald humphed with a proud smirk. 

“Leave what to who now?” Triumphantly, Sora leaned his Keyblade against his shoulder and turned back to face his old friend.

“Sora? What did you...?”

“Gotten stronger haven't I?” He beamed. “Been preparing for a rematch for when I found you and Kairi again.” He pointed with his weapon using a single outstretched arm.

“Our Sora here's the chosen one o' the Keyblade!” Goofy chuckled.

“Who would've thought?” Donald added, practically glowing.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Sora teased as he approached them.

Riku turned halfway to face them as he followed Sora's trail, finally taking them in openly. He swept his eyes coolly over each of them as they took verbal shots at each other in such good nature.

“Really now?” It was spoken softly under his breath. The other boys hadn't heard.

Ari watched him with eyes narrowed, jaw tight, skin frigid, and mind buzzing. Something was off. Everything seemed off. Her mind was screaming.

The other three fell silent when the Keyblade vanished from Sora's hand...

“So this is the Keyblade.”

… And reappeared in Riku's.

Her heart stopped. _What the hell is happening right now_?

“Hey, give it back,” its owner demanded.

Riku examined it loosely, running his eyes lazily over its form.

“Hmph. Catch.” Then poof it went from him to whence it came.

“Whoa. How'd he do that?” Goofy wondered.

“Probably some kinda thing it can do. Remember, Merlin said he hasn't mastered its full potential yet,” Donald said, equally mystified. “Though I wonder,” he added as an afterthought.

Sora looked at his Keyblade strangely. “Hm... Oh!” Then he was on to greater things. “S'right, we have this really cool spaceship! You're gonna be partying with us now, right?”

“Huh? Wha- Hold on a second! Not this again! Ari is bad enough!”

Donald's accusation forced her to glare daggers at him despite her current state.

“Why the hell not, man?! C'mon, he's my friend!”

“Forget it! Four's a crowd.”

“But he can fight with us, too! You saw that he can! Right, Riku?!”

But silence greeted him in a space that Riku no longer occupied.

“Huh? Riku?”

Ari's brows shot up. Her fingers twitched as she scanned the area with a dim sense of urgency.

“Hey, where'd he go? And here I'd finally caught up with him...” his shoulders sagged in disappointment. “Stupid Riku.”

“Well, that settles it,” Donald concluded.

“Hey, Sora...” Goofy reached out, concern in his voice.

Evidently, it was needless. “Well, at least I know he's okay!” He lifted his head with a blinding grin and folded his now empty hands behind his head, catching its weight in nonchalance. “I mean, he could have been injured or something. Guess I don't have to worry about him anymore.”

With a smile and a relieved chuckle, Goofy smiled. “That's true, Sora. It's great that you found your friend again.”

“Maybe that means Kairi'll show up soon, too!” He pumped an fist in victory.

 _And my sister_ , Ari wanted to say, but her tongue seemed like a dead weight in her mouth as the most recent experience fizzled into oblivion. Still, her right hand went reflexively to her chest, her fingers passing as they had a thousand times over the hard silver lines of what hung there, always remembered.

“Only one way to find out!” Donald cheered, all three oblivious to their silent companion's state of mind.

“Hey!” A new voice, this time familiar to all, entered the mix. “You all done with your delivery yet?”

They turned to see Yuffie waving to them from the top of the stairs.

“Yep! All done!” Sora answered happily.

“Great! We'll be at the house tonight talking battle plans. Won't wanna miss it!”

“We'll be there!” Donald quacked back.

“I'll meet you guys there later,” Ari finally forced out. “Errands to run before Cid's done.”

"Need some company?" the other girl asked. 

Eyes downcast, she slowly shook her head. "Nah. I'm good." 

The older girl examined her briefly, then, “No problem. But don't take too long, or you'll miss the fun,” the ninja winked.

* * *

 

With a deep sigh to quell the subtle anxiety that rose within her chest, errands completed, Ari pushed her way into Third District. She paused outside their house, where muffled voices could already be heard from the other side of the door, taking a moment to brace herself. Truth be told, she had desperately needed the time away from the fuss to clear her head. Yet the time she took evidently hadn't been enough for her mind to make any sense of the falling anchor her entire being had become for those few alarming moments.

Who exactly was this Riku guy? And why the hell had she reacted like that?

 _Darkness_. Suddenly her mind was replaying her dreams before she'd lost it all, a rolling movie as a backdrop to the present whether she wanted it or not.

Dammit. Nothing was making any sense.

Her hands absently moved up and pushed the door open. Instantly, the muffled voices rang clear.

“-who ran us off our world with a full blown Heartless infestation.”

“It was luck of circumstance that Cid was near at the time. Without his ship-”

“Clearly I'm already missing something,” she observed.

Six pairs of eyes turned toward the door as Ari entered, silence now greeting her.

“Took ya long enough!” her new duck nemesis scolded.

“Any trouble getting here?”

“No Heartless to speak of, if that's what you mean,” she answered Yuffie. A simple smile was what she received in return.

“Mr. Leon was just explaining how a witch named Maleficent destroyed their world,” Goofy's deep, friendly voice supplied.

“Oh?” Ari bent sideways to place her bag of items on the floor beside her as she set herself down around the table, blowing some strands of hair out of her face as she did so. “So who is this witch named, um...”

“Maleficent,” Goofy repeated.

“Right. Maleficent,” she tossed him a nod in thanks.

“She invaded their world with the Heartless,” Sora explained.

“Whoa. So she's the big boss, huh?”

“Well...” Aerith began. “We don't know all the details. According to Ansem's reports, the Heartless aren't really something anyone can control. They're creatures of the darkness that devour all hearts. However, Maleficent has shown a particular interest in his reports. From what we've gathered, we can only assume she intends to use the information for greater evil. We fear a large number of the pages may have already fallen into her grasp.”

As she spoke, they could see her expression slowly darkening, and with it Yuffie's and Leon's as well. Ari frowned, Donald dropped his head and folded his arms, and Goofy directed his pondering eyes to the table. Sora scowled momentarily before he jumped to his feet, startling the others with a slam of his hands to the table.

“Then all we have to do is find the rest before she does! We'll find them, and we'll stop her!”

Ari's ocean eyes went round.

“That's the spirit!” A new voice cut through the room. Cid stood at the door, his arm outstretched with his palm splayed out against it, having only just slammed it open. “Just in time! Yer gummi ship's ready for battle, kid,” he smirked triumphantly.

“Finally!” Donald leapt to his feet. “And that's **my** gummi ship!”

Not long after, goodbyes and good-lucks spent, they found themselves flying off into space, Ari still shaking off the bewilderment of both Sora's friend and gung-ho promise, he and Goofy lit with the fires of determination and Donald staring skeptically out at the vast emptiness as he throttled them up into the sky with the distinct unappreciative impression that they were, in fact, somehow being used as pawns in a greater scheme to save the universe.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I'm on a roll!
> 
> Quick one to make up for the last beast. Enjoy!
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CH. VIII

“What the hell is wrong with that guy...”

Ari could not help but turn away from the exquisite outside view that held her captive to cock a single brow at the passenger mumbling to himself beside her as he pressed himself up against the window. Mighty good question, that. Clearly, he was still mulling over his disappearing buddy.

“You okay?”

“Huh?” He looked at her with mild surprise, then, “Oh, yeah,” a toothy grin with an effortless answer.

“Are you sure? You seem pretty upset. I mean, I guess I would be, too. Your friend seemed like a bit of a jerk, though.”

“What? Why would you say that?”

She left him with a clipped hum and glanced at him sideways. After a second she said, “I don't know. Maybe it's just me.”

“Riku's pretty competitive. I guess it comes off strong. But we've always been good friends.”

“If you say so. Not that I would know.” Her fingers toyed with the pendant at her chest.

A pause later, watching her pensively, he said, “I guess you're right, though. That Riku's a jerk for not sticking around.”

His pouting acknowledgement forced a short chortle from her lips. “I'm sure you'll run into him again,” she said encouragingly, despite the way the thought wrenched her gut. “For now, don't be sad, 'kay?”

“Sad? Nah, you're r-”

“He'd better not be!” Donald threw from the pilot seat in front of him. “He knows how this ship runs!”

Her brow shot up again. Sora gave another toothy grin, this time accompanied by a short laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I gotcha, buddy.”

“I'm not sure I follow.”

A single white feathery finger went up. “This ship runs on smiles! No room for frowns or sad faces.”

Now both brows were a mile high on her forehead. _You have_ _ **got**_ _to be_ _ **kidding**_ _me._ She promptly burst into laughter. “What?! Oh, no, that's too funny!”

“Huh? What so funny about it?!”

“I think she's got the right idea,” Goofy remarked.

“Now hold on a minute!”

Sora's laughter soon caught up. “Aw, c'mon, Donald. Just look at that smile!”

Tears of laughter peaked out of the corners of her eyes by the time her giggles finally ceased, coming out in short bursts as she attempted to catch her breath. _How ridiculous!_ She'd keep that little bit of commentary to herself, she decided, particularly considering who it had come from in the first place. Evidently the grouch had no idea how grouchy he actually was. What a discovery.

“Oh, look there! We've arrived. Ahyuk.”

* * *

 _Run_ , she urged her legs, praying with every breath that her path would remain unhindered with every touch of her foot upon the ground. Her head snapped every which way, searching for some escape, some hideaway. She couldn't let them catch her.

Her hand shot out to steady her as she twisted around a corner, attempting desperately to lose her pursuers as she stumbled into a dead end. Panicking momentarily, she spotted some crates and lunged behind them, trying to make herself as small and inconspicuous as humanly possible. She held her breath and sat stock still.

Silence followed for what seemed to be an impossible length of time. Her limbs began to tremble. Then, the sound of several feet upon sandy ground reached her ears, their owners getting closer and closer until finally, they stopped. No sounds were uttered.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, she shuffled to peak around the crates, but the thin sliver of sight she was given told her nothing.

Then, she heard voices.

* * *

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Ari wondered around in silence, searching for some sign of life in the strange, empty desert city. So far, they'd run into nothing but Heartless and the occasional small desert wildlife.

“We've hit a dead end,” Goofy commented.

A moment of contemplative silence, then, “No, look,” Sora pointed above. “There's another door up there.”

“What? What's it doing up there?!”

It wasn't right. Ari could not shake the feeling she was being watched, that they weren't alone. Tuning out Donald's voice, her eyes swept across the square lot they now found themselves in. Barrels, crates, a flash of teal, red clay urns, a high ledge here, a window there – wait, teal?

There. Her eyes focused on something behind the messy stack of large wooden crates in the inner most left corner. “Who are you?” Her voice rang out and echoed against the sandstone walls.

Tense silence followed, and Sora stepped forward. “Hey, Ari, what are you-” but a shuffling and the sprouting of a black-headed figure from behind the crates cut him off. A girl. A fierce one, judging by the guarded look she gave them, her dark hair tied back all the way down to the thigh of her loose teal pants. “Huh? W-who's that?”

“I should ask that of you. You're the strangers here,” her large eyes swept over each of them as she said this, as if to emphasize her point.

“Then I suppose it's normal for the people of this city to hide like thieves? Maybe that's why it's so deserted.”

Her eyes widened for an instant before they met Ari's in a defiant glare. After a breath of hesitation, she said, “I am Jasmine. My father is sultan of this city. It was not so deserted before... before those _things_ showed up.”

“Things?” Goofy inquired.

“The Heartless, probably,” Ari clarified in a hushed voice.

“Wait a second, you're a princess!” Donald exclaimed haphazardly.

All eyes turned to him then back to Jasmine, who confirmed with a nod. For whatever reason, though the glint of suspicion lingered behind her eyes, she seemed to relax a bit at the magician's assertion.

“That's right. Though it seems to be the source of all my troubles.”

“What sort of troubles?” Sora pried.

With a heavy sigh, she began slowly. “My father has been deposed by Jafar, who now has control of the city and me on the run.”

“Jafar?”

“Right,” she smiled at Goofy apologetically. “He's the royal vizier, though I never trusted him. Now he has some new awful power that he used to seize control of Agrabah. Even the commoners have all disappeared.”

They fell grim.

“But you managed to stay alive and in one piece,” Ari tried. “Don't you think there would be others, too?”

“I know there is. He helped me escape the palace when Jafar betrayed us.”

“He?”

“Aladdin. But I don't know where he is now...” she brought her hands together, squeezing them anxiously at her belly.

“So it was the street rat, was it?” A deep voice drawled from above them, and they all looked upward to face the newcomer. At the site of him standing upon the high ledge that held the second threshold, clear distaste dripping from his dark eyes, Jasmine took a fearful step back. “Won't you tell me where I might find him?”

“Let me guess: Jafar!” True to his nature, Sora glared angrily up at the black-robed vizier, silently daring him down to face them.

He ignored the child in perfect apathy. “Now, **princess**. How very unseemly of you to keep such company. Allow me to find more suitable companions for you.”

Instantly, the familiar sounds of Heartless popping into existence surrounded them.

“Jasmine, run!” Not a second later, Sora had his Keyblade at the ready.

She didn't have to be told twice. In an instant, she was off. Muffling the sound of her footsteps was the overbearing echo of Jafar's laughter as he walked off through the doorway above their heads, leaving the Heartless behind to occupy them.

“Dammit. What a jackass!” Ari pulled her blade from the handy sheath hanging over her back that Leon had so graciously been forced to add to his beautiful gift, but not before one of their foes spotted her off her guard. He tightened her fingers securely around the hilt and spun just in time to narrowly dodge a spinning sword boomeranging around her, nicking her high on her arm, eliciting a cringe and a click of her tongue. Then she lunged.

By the time they had finished off the 'small fry,' as Leon so often called them, Jafar was nowhere to be seen or heard.

“Let's go find Jasmine,” Sora suggested, to which they agreed and ran back out onto the connecting main street.

“Jasmine?” Ari tried, as did the others, and they searched what had to be the whole city until they had finally reached its exit, looking out over a vast ocean of sand. Jasmine was nowhere to be found.

“What now?” Donald wondered aloud.

“Let's retrace and try again. She's gotta be somewhere in the city,” Sora insisted.

“But we've searched the whole of Agrabah,” countered Ari.

Goofy scratched a finger against his temple. “You don't suppose she left the city, do ya?”

“No, don't be stupid. She'd never survive out here,” Donald all but rolled his eyes.

“You don't know that,” Ari frowned at him.

“What if we search around the city borders?” Sora offered.

“That'd take all day! Or longer!” Donald shook his head, pressing his palm to the air to emphasize his opinion that the idea was out of the question.

“We can split up,” Ari suggested.

“No way. I'm telling you, she won't be out here!”

“And I'm telling you, you don't know that!”

“The Heartless would overtake this world before we were finished!”

“Oh, stop being so melodramatic.”

“Melodramatic?! Oh, what do _you_ know? You're new to this sort of thing,” Donald crossed his feathered arms and turned away from her indignantly, his bill raised high as he went on. “Leave these things to the experts. We know danger, and have all the proper training and expertise when it comes to-”

“UGYAKYAKA!” _Whoosh_.

Neither Ari, Sora, nor Goofy were paying him any mind any longer, which was all fine where the magician was concerned as he was now shocked silent, eyes round at the bizarre and unexpected interruption.

“What the-” He began, but the others were already staring at the quickly disappearing blip in the distance that had so swiftly passed over their heads, sounding strangely like a crazed monkey.

“Was that a- um... did you guys...” _What the hell?_ Ari was too dumbfounded by what she thought she'd seen to even say the words.

“A flying carpet monkey?” Goofy inquired for her, head tilted in puzzlement.

“Um...” she blinked.

“Let's go check it out,” Sora decided.

“Huh?!” It was Donald's turn to blink bewilderedly.

Ari sighed, and Goofy simply shrugged. Seconds later, they were running through the desert to heaven knows where, chasing something so entirely farfetched Ari had to wonder if they had all just witnessed the same hallucination and were now simply chasing the wind, sand in their shoes and feet struggling to stay afloat.

Sora seemed to have his eyes set on this thing, despite it having escaped their visions long ago. They had been running for what seemed like ten straight minutes when Ari finally stopped with a breathless, “wait!”

“Huh?” Sora abruptly slid to a stop and looked back at her. “What's wrong?”

“Sora,” catching her breath with her hands atop her knees, sweat rolling down her reddened face and neck, she looked up at him from her bent position. “Whatever that thing was, even if it _did_ actually happen, it's much faster than we are. We won't catch it. This is pointless!”

“Aw, c'mon! It might be a clue!”

“Ah, phooey!” Donald plopped himself down into the sand, exasperated. “This is crazy!”

“Sora, we could get lost out here if we go too far.”

“But...”

“Maybe we should head back to the city and keep looking for Jasmine,” Goofy tried.

“Aww, but we've already tried that!”

“There's also Jafar to think about,” Ari agreed.

“Well, we won't get anything done just standing around here!” Donald exclaimed, finally fed up with it all. He pushed himself up off the desert ground as he attempted to right himself only to stop short. His eyes focused narrowly on his legs, the hand he'd pressed firmly into the ground, and the sand that surrounded him. Was he... sinking? “Um. Guys...”

In silence, followed by varying degrees of delayed reaction, they blanched at the realization.

They were standing, and slowly sinking, in quicksand.

“Oh, shi-”

“HELP!” The voices of both Sora and Goofy combined seemed so small amid the sea of sand dunes.

“Okay...” Ari breathed, trying desperately to calm her nerves. “Don't panic. We can figure a way out of this.”

“How?!” Too late; her feathery companion was already panicking.

Then again, she wasn't so far off herself. Donald was already buried chest deep; he had been sitting in it, after all. None of them could manage to pull out their legs, and struggling only served to dig them in further. There was no escape. _Shit, I don't know! Oh god, oh god, we're gonna drown in sand! I don't wanna die like this!!_

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

CH. IX

“Hey, check it out. What's that down there?” A single golden brown arm reached downward, a finger pointed toward figures below.

“Agyaka!”

“HELP!”

“Come on, Abu. We've gotta help them.”

The wind in his thick black hair and an unapologetically vocal monkey latched firmly onto his shoulder, Aladdin steered the flying carpet down to the ground at the very edge of a pool of agitated quicksand. There, four people sank slowly deeper.

“Look, that's-” one began, a humanoid canine.

“GET US OUT OF HERE!” The screeching voice of his yellow billed companion painfully interjected.

“Genie! I summon you!” Aladdin pulled out a rusted gold lamp and rubbed at it with a hand while Abu flailed around him. To the surprise of the other four, a huge puff of bright smoke blasted forth from within and swirled upwards, higher and higher, until a vaguely humanoid shape was formed. “Fulfill my first wish! Save these four from the quicksand!!”

The body of smoke finally took full shape as the four watched in wonder, when a theatrical voice burst forth from the floating blue being that heaved a funnel of air dramatically. “Aaaaah, **yeah**!! Hello, hello, hello! At your service, the one, the only, Genie of the lamp! Rub-a-dub the magic lamp, and your deepest wishes come to life at the cut-my-own-throat fantabulous price of nothing at all!” Two ginormous blue hands shoved themselves before the dumbfounded but still sinking companions, palms rubbing against each other. “Abracadabra, thy will be done!” Just like that, they were popped into the air and brought gently back down to stable ground before Aladdin.

Each of them breathed a heavy sigh of relief, glad to have narrowly avoided a dreadful slow death.

“Thanks for the save,” Sora smiled at Aladdin, as if it were totally natural that they'd just been on the receiving end of a genie rescue.

“Don't mention it. You guys lost or somethin'? It's quite a ways off the usual caravan routes. Lucky for you we flew by.”

_Or not._  Ari silently eyed the curiously animated rug. If that thing hadn't flown by in the first place, they would still be in the city. Maybe even gone from this world altogether.

The other three exchanged glances, but the native continued before they had a chance to answer. “I'm Aladdin, by the way. This is Abu, my partner in crime,” he introduced the small, crazed mammal, “and this here's Magic Carpet.” The rug bowed dramatically. “This-”

“Oh Al, leave the intros to the professionals!” Aladdin was shooed aside. “Magical Genie, at your service.” A grand twirl up into the air and a deep bow after expanding to the size of a bus accompanied the introduction. “All your wishes realized in a flash; that's me, marvelous Genie! Yes, I know, I know,” he bowed again several times, deflating back to a more reasonable existence. “Sexilicous beast, ain't he?” he adjusted his tone and posed, one hand to a protruding hip and the other to his head. “Now, now, no need for starry eyes,” he winked at them.

Ari watched the display with a dulling sense of surrealism. Yep. There was no hope for sanity.

Donald sighed irritably nearby, bringing his fingers to a lowered forehead. “Yeah, yeah, we got it already. Sheesh, enough.”

It prompted Ari to smile despite herself; for once, she actually agreed with the feisty feather ball.

“Anyway, I'm Sora. This is Goofy, Donald, and Ari,” he pointed to each in turn.

“Nice to meet you guys. So what are you all doing out here so far from the city, anyway?”

Again, Ari's eyes snapped straight back to the flying blue rug _of doom_. The sight of it was a bad omen, she decided. Though, admittedly, it was pretty freaking cool.

“We were searching for someone,” Sora began, watching, intrigued, as Abu all but attacked Aladdin from every angle. Somehow Aladdin managed to remain completely composed and wholly unaffected.

“She's the princess of Agrabah,” Goofy elaborated. “Jasmine's her name.”

At this, Aladdin seemed to remember something critical. “Oh, no, Jasmine! Come on, the carpet will take us back to Agrabah. I'll explain on the way. We gotta go!”

“I'm right behind ya, Al!”

* * *

“KIDNAPPED?!”

Cramped upon the carpet, flying freely over the flowing dunes below, the four companions listened intently to the distressing news Aladdin had to share.

“So Jafar got to her,” Ari mused aloud.

“I knew it! It was Jafar all along!” Aladdin's jaw tightened. “We have to save her!”

The four looked at each other grimly, nodding in agreement.

“We'll help you save her, Aladdin,” Sora promised.

When they finally made it back to the city, a welcome party of Heartless were waiting for them in seemingly every corner. Abu panicked, jumping up onto the carpet which instantly flew them both high up into the sky. Sora, Goofy, and Donald barreled in, weapons at the ready without a moment's hesitation.

“We've gotta get past 'em!” Sora yelled.

“Dodge 'em and keep going! We gotta focus on finding Jafar and the princess!” Donald instructed.

Aladdin exchanged glances with Genie. “I gotcha, Al," the djinn whizzed right past him and hurled through the plaza, bouncing off the encasing walls for momentum and knocking around the Heartless like a pinball.

“Wow. Handy,” Ari nodded, wide eyed and impressed. A smirk spread along her lips as she brought her blade forward.

“Onward ho!” she heard Genie yell, and so on they went, through the plaza, past the main street and what looked to have been a bazaar, barreling through Heartless all along the way and simultaneously keeping a lookout for any sign of Jasmine or Jafar.

“The palace!” Aladdin pointed toward an entryway that held large, ornate doors beyond.

“Let's go!” Donald urged, and shot toward it full throttle, the others lined up right behind him.

They came to a screeching halt as Donald suddenly went flying right back past them all, engulfed in flames.

“Donald!” Sora called to him.

“Watch out! A big Heartless is blocking the way!” Goofy warned. It stood just beyond the threshold, barring their path forward and the view of what lay beyond.

“And this one spits fire!” Ari practically cursed, unamused.

“Thunder!” Sora thrust his Keyblade to the sky and summoned a storm of lightening down upon it, to which Goofy followed up by slinging his shield right toward its big, rounded belly. As it sliced and rounded back toward him, the Heartless doubled over. Ari took the opportunity to pounce, leaping forth and swinging her sword down over its head. Sora followed her lead, instinctively flinging his Keyblade and sending it spinning. The blades struck simultaneously, and the creature billowed out of existence.

They paused, looked once at each other, then glanced back to see the royal magician had healed himself successfully and was now helping Genie dispose of the remaining sword-slinging and antenna-twitching Heartless. Ari subtly shivered; those beady eyed bastards still managed to give her the creeps.

Her eyes met Sora's again, and Aladdin stepped over to join them. They nodded.

“Let's go.” Passing between them, overflowing with conviction, Aladdin now lead the way.

Spread out before the palace gates was a beautiful garden courtyard, flowers of an unexpectedly vibrant array of colors shimmering in the daylight, bent as though fearful of the desert sun that fed them. A single stone path cut through the center lead straight toward the massive double doors, grand ringed knobs hanging from the center of each. There, standing tall against the imposing backdrop with cobra staff in hand, was the long faced Jafar, his hard eyes now fixed on the acting heroes that dared to stand against him.

“A little out of your league, don't you think? Know your place, **rats**.” The last word was spat so harshly, his mouth twisting faintly in disgust, that Ari imagined he'd have vomited with it gladly if he thought it wouldn't break his composure.

“Oh, spare us your uppity bullshit!” Ari huffed and rolled her eyes as she stepped forward, strands of hair clinging to her reddened face, her purple highlights glinting with every movement. “Where's the princess?!”

Jafar's eyes narrowed dangerously, but he simply chuckled, stepping aside languidly to reveal a tied and gagged princess struggling behind his dark cape.

“Now,” he cooed. “What will you do, hm? What **can** you do?”

“Genie! Save Jasmine!” Aladdin ordered.

“You're makin' this way too easy, kid!” He sprang forth to carry her swiftly to safety, but Jafar cackled joyously, his eerily bold voice carrying over the entire courtyard.

“ **So** sorry, boy,” he drawled amusedly. “Your wish has been **denied**.”

“What?”

The sound of flapping wings caught their attention. Their eyes landed on a red parrot descending upon Jafar, a familiar lamp in the clutches of his thick claws.

“No way!” An astonished Aladdin searched his own body frantically.

“Crap,” Ari muttered.

“Uh, isn't that-” Goofy pointed.

“Aladdin's lamp?! It can't be!”

“Aladdin?” Sora turned to him expectantly.

“It's gone,” he confirmed, dread marring his features.

Jafar's cackles strengthened.

“I'm sorry, Al,” Genie's chin dropped toward his chest as he let Jasmine slip free from his grasp, who consequently winced as she hit the ground with a dull _thud_.

“Well, now. Farewell, infidels. Heartless, terminate these pests!” The vizier slid smoothly away as a cloud of smoke engulfed the princess, dissipating into a large, covered clay urn that sprouted long, spidery legs and followed along behind him, Jasmine encased out of sight within.

“Jasmine!!”

“Aladdin! Watch out!” Sora knocked the distracted boy out of the way just as a curved sword came slicing down where he stood, then twisted on his heel and jabbed his Keyblade right into its owner's gut. One down.

“We gotta go after them!” Aladdin insisted.

“Don't be reckless, you'll get yourself killed!” Ari would have smacked the single-mindedly lovesick boy right upside the head if she weren't furiously preoccupied with slashing at these increasingly annoying and ever morphing Heartless.

“They're blocking our path!” Donald added.

Aladdin's fists clenched as he watched Jafar and the urn slowly disappear from sight. His knees buckled and he slid to the ground, slamming a fist down angrily. “She's gone. I lost her... I can't believe I failed her...”

“It's not over yet,” Ari assured him, coming to stand before him as the others slowly gathered, the Heartless finished and each of them breathing heavily, sweat dampening their clothes. “We can still get her back, Aladdin. We're not giving up.”

Aladdin looked up at her, then at the others, each in turn. They all looked back at him with various degrees of reassurance and determination. Filled with hope by the willingness of his new friends to fight alongside him, he lifted himself from the ground and nodded, resolve etched firmly onto his face.

“I saw where they went. They're headed for the desert.”

Ari smiled. “Back to the desert, then.”

 


	10. Chapter 10

CH. X

The company was huddled once more atop Magic Carpet after Aladdin had managed to call it and Abu back from whence they'd fled. After some discussion, leading to confirmation from Abu and Carpet that Jafar had indeed fled to the desert, they hopped on and hurried out of the city, djinn cruising alongside them, making a beeline for some “cave of wonder” that Aladdin claimed he'd found Genie's lamp in to begin with, insisting it must be where Jafar would make refuge.

“There it is!” he exclaimed when it grew into view.

Donald squinted as Sora put a hand over his eyes in an attempt to shield them from the glare of a quickly setting sun. What seemed to be some sort of gaping hole in the auburn sand resting within a grove of high reaching desert mountains greeted their eyes. As they drew closer, it became evident to all that the mouth of the cave was in fact literally a mouth, wide open with a faint, ominous sunset glow shining from behind long, sleek fangs. Fangs that belonged to the giant head of a tiger.

“Okay. I get it. I'm in wonder,” Ari looked down upon the landmark, trailing her eyes along its height, the dead weight of dread nestling tightly in the pit of her stomach. Jafar may have been one mad creeper, but this? This was stupid scary.

The familiar sound of more Heartless on their scent, even in the desert, was of little importance. Safe atop the rug, they rode past them and headfirst into the tiger's hungry looking mouth.

Deep, dark, and cavernous. Each and every one of them seemed to shrink inward and feel the need to remain gravely silent. Even their ride had slowed down to what one might call equivalent to a tip-toe. Past impossibly long, ancient stairs they flew downward, and then, eyes wide, right into a glowing, spacious blinding room filled with gold coins and jewels of every shape, size, and color.

“ **Whoa** ,” Sora, Donald, and Ari gaped in unison.

“I wonder if the king is this rich,” Goofy wondered, eyes sparkling.

“You mean the Sultan? Probably more, if you ask me,” Aladdin shrugged.

“Actually, I was wondering abo-”

Donald nudged the canine and brought a white finger up to his bill to shush him with a scowl.

“And all you took was a lamp?” Ari, unaware of or perhaps ignoring the duo's exchange, questioned incredulously, eyebrows high upon her forehead.

“We were told to touch nothing else,” her intended recipient answered sheepishly. “I just thought: why risk it?” he shrugged. “Besides, I can wish for more than just riches with a genie.”

“I suppose that's true.” Curiously, she asked him, “Who told you not to touch anything else?”

“Haha... the cave, actually.”

A screeching halt. Maybe she'd imagined it.“The **cave**?”

“Yeah.”

Silence.

“It's _**alive**_?”

The others by this time had their attentions pointedly fixed on the conversation at hand. If any of them had felt secure in this place prior, they sure as shit weren't now.

“Aladdin,” she started slowly. “Aladdin, please tell me this **thing** we're **inside of** is on our side,” Ari begged.

He paused. “Well... I don't think it's really on anyone's side.”

“How can you be sure...?”

Another pause, longer this time. “I'm not. Just a hunch,” he answered quietly.

_What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?_

“What if you're wrong?” Donald finally contributed.

Sora smiled wide and laughed reassuringly before any more could be said. “Don't worry guys. We're only here to rescue Jasmine, right? We just have to make sure not to touch anything.”

“And Jafar. And the parrot. And any Heartless,” Ari counted off beneath her breath, a shadow of deep regret stretching further over her eyes with every word.

Donald was just about blue in the face.

“Oh, great,” the disappointment in Aladdin's voice didn't help their nerves in the least.

“Huh? Which way?” Goofy stared ahead, and they all turned their attention to numerous dark passageways ahead of them, several stone pathways below leading into them, and in between and all around these pathways a frightfully large black lot of nothing. Only what looked like an open abyss welcoming them into Hell with wide open arms, just aching to swallow them whole.

Ari audibly gulped, remembering now with **extreme** clarity her usually tame fear of heights.

“That way,” Sora seemed sure as he pointed at a passage to his right.

“Why that way?” Aladdin wondered.

“I can feel the Keyblade... whispering to me. It's telling me to go that way.”

 _Great. Now he's hearing voices. We're so very fucked._ She felt no need to comment aloud, nor did her voice seem to care for cooperating much; it was lodged like a golf ball in her throat.

“I don't really get it but... you heard 'im, Carpet.”

Forward they went, lead on by the little voice in Sora's head. Just as they passed through the 5-foot thick threshold, Carpet abruptly stopped, virtually inducing whiplash. Aladdin didn't miss a beat.

“There they are!” he exclaimed, pointing to the far end of a spherical room that now greeted them openly, dimly lit by torches scattered upon its walls and platforms of various heights scattered across its dusty floor. They hopped off and sprinted forth. On a platform ahead stood Jafar and the urn that presumably held Jasmine still. But there was another beside him, someone none of them had seen before.

“Who is that?” Ari pondered aloud. The figure was wrapped in a cloak of such deep black she would have never thought it possible on fabric, sporting a high zig-zagged collar and an odd, horned headpiece. Upon deeper inspection, it was obviously a female, and in her hand she carried a staff almost as tall as she, with a green orb nestled neatly on top.

The new figure eyed them with as little regard as one could give, and Ari responded with a deep scowl to the way it made her shrink back. This woman was clearly in need of being knocked off her stupidly high horse.

“I shall take my leave with the princess,” her voice was commanding and willful, laced with the assurance of one who knew her power was well beyond theirs.

“Wait!” Sora tried.

“Do see to this incessant rabble.”

“Give Jasmine back!” Aladdin insisted.

But Sora was on an entirely different subject. “Are you... Maleficent?”

Startled, Ari whipped her head around to stare at the boy, then turned her wide eyes back to her. Oh, that look she gave him. Those eyes she settled on him, little more than slits, hardened and devoid of all light. There was a nothingness within them that even the dead could not match. It was enough to send a severely icy chill shooting right through Ari's spine, crawling up and down both arms. This woman – this **witch –** was far out of their league. She wanted nothing more than to steer clear.

 _No one should be capable of that much evil._ If she were to face them now, they would stand no chance; Ari could feel that terrible truth rattling within her very bones.But what could someone like her want with a girl like Jasmine?

“ **Jasmine**!” Aladdin paid no mind and hurled himself apart from the group, heading straight toward the urn, but by the time he managed to reach it, both it and Maleficent had all but faded so that nothing stood where they once did. “No! Where'd she go?!” Frantically he looked about, twisting left and right. Then, his desperate eyes found Genie. “Genie!! You gotta help me. Please, get her back! I wish for you to go save Jasmine!”

“Oh, Al.” Genie hung his head helplessly.

“Sadly for you, boy, the djinn is bound only to serve the master of the lamp,” Jafar tauntingly held it out on his palm for all to see. “Are you so deplorably witless that the implications of this escape you?”

“You bastard!” Aladdin swiped at the lamp held close to Jafar's chest, but like a bully, he simply swiped it out of his reach and hung it high above his head.

“Oh! I do believe I've come upon a touch of inspiration,” his face lit up momentarily before it twisted into a wicked grin. “Go, my servant djinn. Destroy these infidels so that I may finally be rid of them!”

“Genie, no! Don't listen to him!”

But Genie was bound to do as instructed, and so he did with eyes downcast and hands rolled into fists.

“Genie...”

“I'm sorry Al. He calls the shots now. I have to obey.” Slowly, he lifted a palm above his head, and a dark, pulsing cloud formed to swirl above it. The black bolts of lightening it birthed came raining down on them. Then, as he lowered that arm, he brought the other slowly up so that both arms now lay outstretched. Then he began to spin. Dark balls of energy shot out from his position, wreaking havoc upon the cave, slamming into stone walls, sending torches crashing, and scattering debris everywhere.

“Run away!” he urged all the while. "Back away from my attacks!"

 _We're trying!_ Ari wanted to scream right back. They were being flung every which way when they weren't running at a constant or hiding behind the stone platforms that might soon be rubble after all this strife. Still, for a so-called all-powerful genie, they were lasting surprisingly long. Too long.

 _Wait a second._ Ari stopped behind another platform and carefully peaked out to inspect the chaos. _Is he..._ trying _to miss?_ Most hits seemed to land uncomfortably close to each of them, but they were otherwise getting away unscathed. Her brows lifted. Wasn't that somehow a violation of his duties as a wish-granter?

“What are you doing?!”

Uh oh. She wasn't the only one that noticed.

“Pathetic djinn! Utterly useless scum! Must I do everything **myself**?!” Their foe was seething. “Genie! My final wish!”

They all stopped to watch in horrified anticipation.

“I wish for power absolute! Make me a djinn of your equal!!”

“ **What**?! **Can he even do that**?!” Ari's eyes bulged.

“Stop! **Genie**!” But Aladdin's cries once again went unheeded.

Dread and defeat plastered on his face, Genie brought a shaky hand up to shield his eyes as he brought his other arm up across his chest, pointed a single finger toward Jafar, and unwillingly zapped him with his final command, then disappeared like a whirlpool back into his portable prison.

“ **No**!” Donald and Sora cried in vain.

Ari followed the string of power with her eyes in seemingly slow motion, and only two words made it past her lips as it hit Jafar in a brilliant show of light. “Oh, **fuck**.”

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

CH. XI

Deafening, thundering guffaws echoed throughout the chamber. The entire place around them trembled, cracks traveling through the ground like lightening as it crumbled in chunks, several falling down into a hungry pit of flowing lava below.

Goofy shielded himself as Ari scrambled to find a grip on one of the few remaining platforms and haul herself atop it. Sora steadied himself where he stood while Abu bounded from one unstable piece of ground to the other until he clambered up to where Aladdin watched in shock from his place at the innermost end of the chamber, safe upon the dais where Jafar had once stood. Genie's lamp rolled about back and forth, tucked in a corner, forgotten for the moment in the ensuing madness. Donald latched on to Magic Carpet, who carried him to safety atop a tall, partially crumbling platform.

Their eyes locked on Jafar as he grew and grew in size until he practically filled the entire chamber. They were little more than insects now.

“Sora!” Donald called out to him.

The newly turned djinn stared down at the boy over his wide chest from his high perch amongst them, Sora left standing in the midst of what was left of the chamber ground. Jafar's deep chuckles sent vibrations running up and down Ari's spine.

“Get out of there!” she urged her friend.

“Run!” Jafar mocked gleefully. “Yes, run as I squash you like the bug you are! **This** is **power**!” he cackled. “With such power at my command, the whole of reality is mine to rule!!”

Something glinted in the corner of Sora's eye. In sudden realization, he watched the parrot who had previously stolen Genie's lamp flap about, carrying something valuable in the grasp of his clawed feet. A black lamp hung there, swinging carelessly. _That must be Jafar's lamp!_

“Iago!!” Aladdin cried, noticing him abruptly not a moment after Sora.

Iago squawked as he neared, pulling away at the last second as Aladdin reached out to grab him.

“Vanish, maggots!” Jafar thundered, lifting his arms high above as a power began to gather around him, the atmosphere growing thick with it.

“Aladdin, get him!” Ari was panicking, finding it increasingly difficult to breathe through the sullied, heavy, steadily heating air.

Magic Carpet leapt forward, heading straight toward Iago. As it chased him around, each of them tried their hand at grabbing the lamp that dangled in his grasp.

“Got it! Huh?” Donald's fingers just grazed it, and he found himself suddenly losing balance at the edge of his platform. In a panic, he scrambled back to safety.

It passed over Sora, who used magic to throw a fireball at him. Iago narrowly dodged.

A bright red light lit the chamber, emitted from a halo that had begun to form around Jafar. What time they had left was quickly depleting.

Following Sora's lead, Ari thrust out a palm toward the bird. “Wind!” she cried desperately, just barely hitting Iago. Caught off guard, the bird let the lamp loose for but an instant before he hurriedly grabbed at it again.

That instant was all they needed. Magic Carpet sped at him, sending Iago screeching in panic right toward Aladdin, paying little attention to the direction of his desperate escape path. Abu took the opportunity to climb aboard Aladdin's shoulder.

“Abu, go!”

The monkey propelled himself into the air, latching onto the lamp as he barreled into it, forcing Iago to leg go and sending him spiraling out of control.

“Watch out!” Goofy yelled.

Abu now saw that his path led straight down into the depths of lava below, right through an opening in the ground. Panic overwhelmed him as he cried out.

As Jafar's cackles bounced from wall to wall around them, his arms swinging widely downward likely to destroy them all in one fell swoop, Sora ran toward Abu and leapt, sweeping both the monkey and the lamp into his arms.

“Sora!” Ari was sure he was going to fall, but cleverly the boy used his momentum to tuck and roll back onto safe ground, making it just barely over the wide gap. She was relieved for a split second before she brought her eyes back up to Jafar. It seemed they were seconds away from a death she did **not** want to experience. She shut her eyes and held her breath. Goofy, Donald, Aladdin, and Carpet followed suit, bracing themselves.

Jafar's power burst out furiously, his light blinding them and sending Ari skidding to the edge of her platform, Donald rolling off his completely, and Aladdin flat against the innermost wall. Everything shook. Amid the roaring cacophony surrounding them, a single voice rose above.

“Enough! Back to your lamp, genie!”

Abruptly, it halted. The power extending outward vanished in a single blast of wind. Jafar seemed to suddenly deflate. His eyes grew wide as he looked over to the smirking brown haired boy.

“What...? No. It cannot be!”

“Genies are bound to serve the master of their lamp,” Sora stated matter-of-factly. “So in you go. As your master, my commands are absolute.” His smirk widened as he punctuated his point with the lamp on display in his grasp.

Despite his protests, it was already sucking Jafar into his new prison. “No. **No**!” His agonizing cries rang miserably throughout what was left of the chamber. Wincing, Donald, Goofy, Ari, and Abu held their palms against their tortured ears.

Then, it was over. Just like that, silence filled the space he once occupied but for the rolling of lava below. A single, thin sheet came floating down, swaying in the air as it descended, landing gently upon Sora's face.

“Huh?” He reached up and pulled it away, eyeing it curiously. “What's this?” It was a tattered and torn sheet of parchment, a lone page brimming with scribbles and drawings.

“Sora!” Goofy and Donald finally found their way over to him and, overjoyed, tackled him into a group hug.

Ari shook her head with a soundless giggle, perfectly content far away from the invasion of personal space as she slowly made her way over, one crawl, leap, or meticulous step at a time.

“A fabulous job well done, everyone!” To add to it, Genie popped up behind them, encircling them with abnormally long, stringy arms and smothering them with mirth.

“Genie!” Sora whined, struggling with a toothy grin.

Lamp in hand and Abu on his shoulder, Aladdin limped his way over with a triumphant smirk. As the djinn unwound his arms from around them, he plucked Jafar's lamp right out of Sora's hands.

“This thing should be buried far and deep where no one can ever find it.”

Above the dais before them, a light began to glow. Curious, they turned warily toward the new development.

“Ah, almost forgot!” Donald smiled in realization, walking toward the light. He pointed a finger at it and turned back toward Sora. “You gotta lock the keyhole.”

“Yeah,” Sora nodded.

“So that's what it looks like,” as Ari mused, Sora strode onto the platform and held out his Keyblade. A single beam of light burst from its tip and shot directly toward the keyhole's center. A click was heard, like the locking of a door, and the light dimmed out.

“That should do it,” he confirmed. A final sigh of relief escaped them all as their tense bodies began to relax. Jasmine was gone with Maleficent, but they had managed to defeat Jafar once and for all. For now, at least, their battle was over.

A rumble began to roll through the walls around them, like the gradual approach in the distance of a deep, ominous quake. Their smiles subsided as the sound grew louder, and they looked around at each other as danger began to register between them. Then, everything shook.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry y'all. Mostly filler this one, but I had a bit of fun with it anyway. 
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

CH. XII

“Carpet! We need to get out of here, quick!”

Ari, Donald, and Goofy gladly followed Sora's advice and headed straight for their magical ride, but Abu opted to unsuccessfully drag an unwilling Aladdin by the hand to the safety of their escape.

The Agrabah native would not budge. “But... what about Jasmine?”

“She's not here, Aladdin, she's in another world!” Sora was already above him, reaching his hand down to his friend in urgency.

“Wha-?”

“There's no time to explain!” Ari insisted. “We need to go, **now**!”

“They're right, Al. It's coming down fast,” Genie concurred.

A moment of hesitation passed as Aladdin seemed to battle within himself, wondering whether to believe them or attribute it to their need to save themselves. Finally, deciding he couldn't save Jasmine if he were dead, he turned to Genie directly. “Genie, get us out of here.”

“Whoa, Al, you sure? That'll be wish number two, y'know.”

“Just do it!”

“Whatever you say, buddy. Consider it done!” A shrug and a sparkly upward spin later, they suddenly found themselves beneath open sky, just beyond the encircling grove of desert mountains that cradled the fearsome Cave of Wonders. Left with a mixture of awe and fear at the echoing roars from within, they turned to watch the tiger head roar to life, kicking up sand as it reared its head back and bared its fangs to the stars hanging above before clamping down, sending a shudder through the ground and disappearing beneath the sand, leaving behind an empty, heavy silence.

Ari shivered. Donald turned away. Aladdin sank to his knees.

Sora hopped off Magic Carpet, silently laying a hand on Aladdin's shoulder. “We'll get her back, Aladdin.”

“How? You saw what just happened,” he frowned down at the sand beneath him and clenched his teeth. Why hadn't he tried harder? “She's gone,” he whispered.

“But not lost,” Ari, too, slid off of Carpet, followed closely by Donald and Goofy. “We can still save her.”

“That's right,” Goofy agreed. “We'll just have to keep looking for her.”

“I don't understand.”

“We can't really explain it to you,” Sora shrugged sheepishly. “But she's out there somewhere, and we have a way to get us around to look.”

“You know,” Genie intervened, “you could always just wish her back.”

Surprised, Aladdin looked up at him, and Ari smiled.

“Of course!” Donald supplied. “You can grant any wish, can't you?”

“Wait a minute. If it's that easy, then isn't our entire problem solved? I mean, Sora, you could wish for your friends & I mine, couldn't we?”

“Huh? Hey...” For a moment, he seemed dumbfounded as he contemplated the idea.

“Don't forget the king!” Donald supplied.

But Aladdin audibly sighed, lost in his thoughts and dwelling on his failure as he hung his head in despair. Genie put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “C'mon, buddy. That's what I'm here for!”

“But Genie...”

“Hey, don't worry about me. You've gotta save your girl!”

He bit his bottom lip as he thought, looking up at Genie, caught between his desire and honor. Finally, Aladdin hung his head and shook it in defeat. “Genie,” they all turned to watch as the boy began. “I wish...”

Genie rubbed his hands together in preparation. Ari was already working out in her head the order in which they might best utilize their three wishes each.

“I wish for your freedom, Genie!”

_Wait, what?_ Her mind went blank.

Genie froze and stared at his master and friend, but before he could say a thing, a bright white light gathered around his wrists and the golden bracelets that once held him captive shattered and disintegrated before their eyes.

“What... Al...”

“I made you a promise, Genie.”

“But... You actually-”

“At the expense of Jasmine?” Ari cut the magical being off, incredulous.

Aladdin curled his hands into fists at his side, but said nothing.

“Ari...” Sora started as the girl eyed the native, gaping in defeat.

“Well,” Goofy began, “a promise is a promise, after all. I'm not sure it's our place to make him break it.”

Donald crossed his arms and nodded in absolute agreement, but his frown was deep and his jaw clenched tight.

Goofy continued: “So we just have to find Jasmine and bring her back like we promised, too. Ahyuk.” A comment which effectively put a stop to Donald's furious agreement.

“That's fine,” Ari argued, “but we could have saved Jasmine and still kept that promise. There are enough of us here that we could have passed the lamp around, saved everyone, and still freed him.”

Abu crossed his arms from below them all and nodded his head, listening intently and taking sides as if there was still any chance of making a change, but it was too late, and Genie had no problem reminding them of this.

“Hey, now. What's done is done, guys...” he winced as he watched Aladdin's face grow darker, his shoulders sinking lower and lower. He was feeling badly enough without the weight of further regret being dumped over him. “I think it's time we got back to the city to celebrate our victory! We beat the bad guy! C'mon, that's great!” He wrapped himself around Aladdin and hung over him with grin plastered ear-to-ear upon his face. “Al, you're a hero! They'll love it! You'll be rewarded handsomely... a prince in your own right, I'd say. No wishes needed! You earned it, buddy!”

After a tense moment, Aladdin managed a small, sheepish smile. “Yeah,” he began slowly. “Well, I couldn't have done it without you, Genie. Or any of you,” he turned to address his new friends. “Thank you.”

The sheer sincerity of his gratitude shied them into silence. Ari could only timidly place her hands within her pockets and look away, but Sora gave him a chuckle as he rubbed a hand behind his head. “Aw, we didn't do much... it was nothing...”

“You don't have to thank us...” Donald contributed, blushing faintly.

“That's what friends are for,” Goofy said earnestly.

“I'll bet the Sultan himself will want to welcome you to Agrabah and reward you. C'mon, let's head back to the palace.”

* * *

 

The room was **huge**. Granted, the palace as a whole was huge. Talk about extravagance. Not that Ari was complaining.

The Sultan, a short, old, bubbly little fellow, had, in his gratitude after being released from his own dungeons, ordered what servants remained alive and in the palace to show them to separate rooms, asked for baths and a feast to be prepared, and insisted that they rest after their heroic battle with his former vizier. Now out of a ridiculously luxurious and long bath in which she was tended to by four other women to the point of near insanity, she stood in momentary silence to admire the glittering, colorful bedroom that surrounded her. The bed alone was impressive, and she wondered whether she was really expected to sleep in it for the night. It was at least a queen, with high wooden posts at each corner that looked to be painstakingly hand carved. Over it hung a thick, layered canopy, embroidered with shimmering, intricate diamonds of red, green, and gold dotting its sheer fabric from top to bottom, framing a perfectly golden comforter spread over a thick, cloud-like mattress.

It was pretty. Way too pretty. Still, this kind of luxury was good for a girl every once in a while.

Except, of course, when she was being dressed and prepped by three other women. Was that really necessary? Now dressed in surprisingly comfortable clothing from Agrabah of pure white and deep forest green, a long robe with delicate golden embroidery rolling down the center over green finished off with white and gold sandals, she was led to the dining hall for dinner with the Sultan and his guests, hoping the whole way that she would get her cleaned clothes back in the morning, by which time she imagined they would be moving onward in their journey.

She noticed with mild amusement as she set herself down at the overgrown table that the palace servants had managed to convince all but Donald to relinquish their clothing. Examining further, what really brought a smile to her face was how funny the other two looked out of their usual outfits. Though she could only see to just below their chests, what she did see forced her to stifle a laugh. Sora was listening politely to the Sultan as he spoke with pride about his city and people, his shoulders stiff and his face far too serious for the boy she knew. He was trying so hard, that one. But coupled with the white turban lined in blue upon his head, his spiky brown locks peaking out from beneath its edges, and the blue and gold vest over white, it was painfully obvious how out of place he was feeling. Goofy, on the other hand, was bizarrely at ease, listening sincerely and bringing a hand up every now and then to right his own, darker turban, dressed in a black vest over a soft golden shirt. Despite his lack of discomfort, his long muzzle and floppy ears combined with the turban had her feeling childlike, like the days spent enjoying old cartoons that at one time had seemed so outrageously unrealistic.

Then again, sitting now as she was and finally finding the time to breathe after all the recent events and chaos, she felt vaguely as if she was caught in some shifty dream that she couldn't quite wake herself from. How the hell was any of this actually happening, anyway? But it was, and that fact lingered over her, held firm by the constant reminder of how exhausted and sore her body was increasingly becoming as her muscles gradually relaxed further. A potion before bed would do her good, she decided.

After the Sultan had them fed and thanked, he insisted they return to their bedrooms to rest. And so they did, gratefully waking late the next morning to meet for breakfast dressed happily in the same clothing with which they had come. Aladdin, Carpet, Abu, and Genie saw them off in the courtyard before the palace entrance, and though the Sultan grieved heavily the loss of his daughter, he sent them off with an optimistic smile, more thanks, and all the hope that they would succeed in their journey to rescue and return her to him. But, alas, it seemed a goodbye could not be had without at least one heart breaking further before they left altogether.

“Sora, I want to go with you.”

All present were thrown off guard, wide-eyed at Aladdin's assertion.

Sora recovered first. “Sorry, Aladdin. We can't take you with us.”

“What? Why not?”

“It's breaking the rules,” Donald told him, arms crossed as the others shifted uncomfortably. “We can't take folks from one world to another.” As Aladdin hung his head, the magician continued. “You'll just have to trust us.”

With a sigh, he responded, “I guess you're right... it would get pretty chaotic if you did that all the time, huh?”

“I'm sorry,” Sora repeated. “But don't worry. We'll bring Jasmine back. Just wait and you'll see.”

“Wish there was some way I could help,” Genie offered. His lips spread into a wide grin. “Be careful out there, you four. I know we'll see you again soon along with Jasmine,” he nodded, a hand falling encouragingly on Aladdin's shoulder. “Right, Al?”

Aladdin smiled, too. “Yeah,” he nodded. “See you all again soon.”

As they entered their ship and took their respective places, a conspicuously exaggerated sigh echoed around them.

“Honestly,” Donald began, grumbling into the pilot's seat, “why don't we just post a sign on the ship for all to see? Professional Get-Backers: lost items recovered or your money back, guaranteed.”

Ari gave a snort.

“Aw, it's not **that** bad,” Sora responded.

“Not like we ain't looking for everybody else's stuff anyway! The way things are going, we just keep getting farther and farther from our objective!”

An obnoxious ringing tore away all opportunity for a comeback, effectively eliciting a few curses from among them as they either cringed at the sound or brought their hands to their ears in a failed attempt to shut it out.

“What is that?!” The magician stared at the dashboard as he caught glimpse of a rather large, flashing yellow button. He jammed his palm into it if only to shut it up. It worked. For a split second.

“ **Heeeeey** , kids! How's it going out there?”

And just like that, there was Cid, oversized and overbearingly floating over them, pressed flat against the vessel's rounded front windshield. In his hand he held two chopsticks, which in turn held a deliciously tempura fried shrimp mere inches from his mouth.

“Cid? What the hell?” Still thoroughly miffed at the unexpected banshee cries of what appeared to be a cross-world video conference call on a spaceship, Ari glared daggers at the screen, rubbing sorely at her still ringing ears.

“You look surprised,” Cid mused, chewing at his meal innocently.

“We **are** surprised!” Donald threw back.

“What? Didn't I tell you about this already?”

“Oh for fuck's sake,” Ari could already feel a migraine coming on.

“Tell us **what**?” Donald pressed, voice uncharacteristically calm.

“I added this baby in when I fixed up the ship for ya. Convenient, eh?”

A moment passed, then, “Dammit, why doesn't anyone ask me before tampering with my bloody freaking ship?!”

“Huh? Whattaya mean?”

Sora reached out and placed a hand upon Donald's shoulder. “Haha... he's just crankier than usual. Don't mind him,” he smiled sheepishly as Goofy attempted to help pull the crazed duck away only to have his wrath turned on him. Well, it was distraction, he supposed. Better Goofy than him. “Anyway, good news: we sealed up the keyhole in Agrabah, and got a page out of Ansem's report while we were at it. At least,” he hesitated as he looked it over, “I'm pretty sure it is. But I can't read it.”

“Scan it over. I'll decode it.”

“Scan it...?” There, sure enough, on the far left side of the cockpit, sat a conveniently integrated scanning machine. In a spaceship.

“ _...._ **Wow** _,_ ” was all the only female could manage.

While Sora worked to figure that out, Cid continued. “I've got Leon and the gals working intel. Looks like Maleficent's on the move again.” Goofy and Donald had by this time both refocused their attention on the conversation at hand. “Seems our good friends the Heartless have been committing kidnappings across the universe. From what we've gathered, those kidnapped seem to have certain, um, **traits** in common.”

“We know already,” Donald asserted, surprising the older man.

“We saw her kidnap Jasmine,” Goofy added.

“Jasmine?”

“These traits they have in common,” Ari intervened, leaning forward with a hand upon the seat in front of her, “they're all young girls, aren't they?”

“Actually, yeah.”

She cursed beneath her breath. “In other words: to save them, we have to go through **her**.”

“Right! Theoretically, anyway,” Cid confirmed, happily popping another shrimp in his mouth. “But for now,” he mumbled and chewed shamelessly at the same time, “just concentrate on the keyholes.”

She said nothing in return, having already tuned him out as she slowly sank back down, her fingers unconsciously lifting up to glide along the chiseled lines of wrapped silver dangling at her chest.

“Gotcha,” Sora nodded. “We're on it.”

“Great. See ya later, kiddies!” And Cid was gone.

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T_T Definitely NOT how long I meant to take for the next chapter, but my certification exam takes priority. I'm totally slacking on studying because this has been weighing on my mind. Ugh. That being said, while I would have liked to lengthen this one a bit more, I'm at my limit tonight. It's a quick one.
> 
> On the other hand, what's exciting is the new content that's come out in the meantime :D 
> 
> So: though the fun of this world not being cannon is officially ruined, here it is anyway. Fair warning: may induce major groaning; reader likely to survive anyway :) 
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------

CH. XIII

“'Get yourself some layers,' he says. 'Like a **coat** or something,' he says. ' **You might need it,** ' he says. 'I won't need a thing like that,' I tell myself. Dammit, Ari. Stupid, Ari!”

It was beautiful. Deceptively so. Everywhere, it was white, and ice gems like diamonds hung from the tips of evergreens, creating a sparkling white landscape with the aid of layers upon layers of virgin snow. It stretched as far as each could see. A true Winter Wonderland if ever there was one. She was all for it. Really. As far as seeing went, all was perfectly well, but _feeling:_ that was a different matter.

Her teeth clattered, her jaw painfully tense against the cold, and her body shuddered violently in an attempt to warm itself, a curse with every twitch for a certain intuitive scarred hottie they left behind and his incessantly strengthening ability to make her regret her decisions.

Someone needed to remind her why the hell they'd decided to land here.

“Donald, be useful and light a fire or something already!”

His answer came with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It's your own damn fault, anyway.”

“Hey, I'm not the only one with minimal layers, here!”

“Oh, but Donald's got feathers,” Goofy answered innocently.

Her eyes shot daggers at him. “Yes, **thank you,** Goofy. I obviously hadn't realized.” For a moment, he looked confused, and Ari took exasperated note that the sarcasm had clearly escaped him.

“Hey, look. Over there.”

All attention was redirected to Sora, who was pointing beyond a downward slope overlooking – surprise, surprise – more snow. But there was more. Outlining the darkening horizon was a city, at the end of which stood a palace like those out of old fairy tales read to children, glittering with blankets of snow. Warm, orange lights dotted the city, glowing and flickering faintly.

“People! Well, that's good news! People means blankets, and clothing, and fires, and **warmth!** Oooh, **warmth**. Alright, then – it's settled!” and Ari trudged down the slope without so much as even a hint of warning.

“Hey, hold on a second!” Donald called.

“Come on,” Sora followed suit.

“Wait-”

“I wonder who we'll meet down there,” Goofy mused, already half way down the slope.

“Wha- Hey! Ugh... I give up. Let's just charge right in, why don't we.”

A while later, they were entering the borders of an oddly silent, mostly unguarded city. Night now completely surrounded them, and they took cautious, heavy steps forward. By this time, Ari's face and hands were going numb, but the physical activity had warmed her enough that at least there was no more shivering. Donald's tail feathers had picked up some snow now binding itself to their fibers, and the tips of Goofy's nose and ears looked to be gaining a bluish tint. The only hints of fatigue from her human companion was an occasional sniffling and flushed, rosy cheeks.

“You think the whole city's asleep by now?” Ari wondered.

“No way. Too easy,” Donald decided, to which she quirked a brow.

“Easy?”

“Agrabah was deserted, remember?”

“But we saw lights,” she reminded.

“Maybe they were left behind.”

“You can't think like that,” Sora chided. “Besides, I can hear people. There's a crowd nearby somewhere.”

“I think it's coming from over there,” Goofy pointed a finger toward the palace that peaked out from behind otherwise modest structures.

Sora and Ari simultaneously nodded. “Let's go check it out,” the former instructed.

~

“Please, everyone! There are enough provisions for all! Remain calm, and do not lose hope!”

Packed within a courtyard encased in ice as if the entire thing was nothing more than a collection of sculptures was a scattered crowd of natives, amongst them many men in varying uniforms handing out blankets and coats and various other layers of clothing for warmth that seemed to be coming mostly from within the wide open palace doors, where a line of palace staff and servants were entering empty handed and returning with arms full.

Their eyes roamed over the bustle, the boys discussing what action to take next when one of the uniformed men carrying provisions passed before them. Ari hurriedly reached out a hand to stop him. “Sir, please... if I may...”

He paused suddenly as if only just seeing her, but she continued before he had the chance to react. “Can you explain to me what happened here?”

“You must have missed the coronation.”

Ari paused, aware that the others had gone silent, listening quietly. She swept her eyes over the scene beyond him. “I... yes, my friends and I were... um, traveling,” she forced. Well, it wasn't exactly a lie. “We've only just arrived.”

“Your timing is unfortunate. Please, you must be cold,” he offered her a blanket.

“Uh- well... yes,” she laughed nervously. “I am. Um... you wouldn't happen to have a coat I could throw on? Something easy to move in? There's still so much to be done before tomorrow. With the city in this, um, state _..._ ” she tried, and trailed off, hoping he would finish off that thought on his own accord. Thankfully, he took the hint.

“Of course, miss. I'll see what I can do. We have a fire lit for warmth if you would like to wait there.”

“Thank you,” she smiled.

He left, handing out what provisions he had left before disappearing in the crowd, headed toward the palace entrance. Meanwhile, Ari turned to face her companions. Her face flushed, and she was tempted to curl into a ball. They were staring at her blankly.

“W-what?”

That seemed to get their attention, and Donald instantly cleared his throat, grumbled something beneath his breath, and looked away with arms crossed. Sora gave her a silly, boyish smile, and Goofy simply shrugged. “That was quick thinking.”

She straightened, blinking at the canine. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Sora confirmed. “Hopefully we'll get some answers when he gets back. This place is chaos.”

Ari shifted timidly where she stood, “Yeah... I hope so...” she looked up sheepishly at them both. “Thanks,” she grinned.

Goofy chuckled as Sora shrugged his shoulders. Donald just “hmph”ed, and her response was nothing short of an eye roll. They made their way to a crowd of people huddled loosely around a bonfire, most in notably contrasting clothing to the current temperatures.

“Do you think this was Maleficent's doing?” Donald wondered aloud, but the native man found them before anyone could think to answer.

“Young miss! I hope this will do.” He handed her a heavy bundle of fabrics. “Forgive me, but we have many to serve.”

“Oh, of course!” she took the thick threads from him gratefully. “I'm sorry to trouble you.”

“It is my pleasure,” he bowed only slightly before turning to take his leave, but she called for him to wait, and he half turned to face her, looking slightly exasperated by her neediness.

“Please, just... before you go, we have to know. What happened here? What caused this?”

“A powerful witch,” he hissed, his face contorting in disgust.

All four companions tensed instantly.

“She fled the city after placing it under a spell of deep freeze. Rumor has it that she has now taken refuge upon the North Mountain, fortified in solitude within her palace of ice. If you ask me, anywhere alive is too close to Arendelle.”

“North... Mountain?”

He said nothing more as he bowed, then took swiftly off into the crowd of shivering and panicked people. There was quite obviously no more delaying him.

“Donald,” said Sora. “You might be right.”

Ari picked apart the bundle to reveal four coats in varying sizes and handed them off to where each made the most sense. She then unfolded the last in a flurry, tossing it over her shoulders and fluidly slipping her arms through its long sleeves. “Only one way to find out.”

 

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright. I guess I owe a chapter with a little something more for all the wait. While I'm still in the mood to shirk responsibility... 
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------

CH. XIV

They were knee deep in snow, far beyond the city gates, armed with an old map and what word of mouth they could gather from the townsfolk. Their clothes slowly becoming drenched from the bottom up and speckled with ice crystals and caked snow, they trudged on until they could make out the shape of a tall, steep slope, outlined against the sky in a silhouette that was far too unnatural to be nothing more than a mountain.

Goofy held out the map in front of him, focusing intently on the messy red circle around the area that signified their desired location. “Do ya think that's it?” he wondered aloud.

“Let's get a little closer,” Sora suggested.

Soon enough, it became all too clear they had found it. Even deep in the early morning as the first hints of sunrise began to peak from the horizon, it seemed to glow from the ground up as they approached.

Donald paused and pointed a finger up toward the peak. “ **That's** her castle up there _?_ ” Donald ran his eyes along the full length of the tall, daunting mountain walls that greeted them in the near distance. “You can't be serious.”

“If Maleficent's there...” Ari found no point in finishing that thought.

“Maybe Kairi will be there, too,” Sora was hopeful.

She tore her eyes away and bore them into the snow, a single whisper escaping her lips. “Reina.”

“It looks like we'll have to climb it if we want to reach the top,” it was a simple statement, but it made her cringe, and she glared sideways at the canine for his ever persistent optimism despite the heavy resolve settling deep within her chest. It was a little task in her mind to go to Hell and back for the people she loved, but that didn't very well mean she had to enjoy doing it.

“Looks like it,” Sora agreed, nodding, his expression calculating as he studied the structure.

With that lingering thought in mind and an inaudible sigh from the agitated girl, an unspoken decision to continue was silently agreed upon, and they pushed onward until they had finally come upon its base, each of their heavy breaths releasing clouds of steam that quickly blended and vanished into the air.

“Okay,” Ari began, “So who here has climbed a mountain before?”

Goofy brought a finger up to his chin as he looked the jagged rock wall before him up and down.

“We just start climbing,” Donald all but dismissed.

“ **Right** ,” Ari drawled; it was his funeral, so by all means. Meanwhile, she turned instead to Sora, who was wondering around the base as if in search of something. “What are you doing?” she called to him, and made her way over.

“I don't know,” he shrugged, continuing his search. “Somewhere to start, I guess.”

“Do you know what you're doing?”

He laughed. “Not really.”

Brows lifted, eyes narrowed, head tilted, and lips rounded, she merely watched. Behind her, Donald began his ascent, making progress slowly only to miss a spot or break his foothold and slither right back down miserably to the bottom, Goofy wailing in concern with every attempt.

Sora perked up suddenly. “Hey! Look over here!”

_Huh..._ Ari lifted her head and lowered a single brow, leaving the other hanging high. Success of some sort? _Leave it to Sora,_ she mused with a smile, allowing her feet to close the distance between them.

“What is it?”

“Stairs!”

Her eyes followed his line of sight, and she almost fell over incredulously. Talk about success!

Goofy and a disheveled Donald were soon beside them.

“Well, what d'ya know!” the former chuckled. Donald said nothing.

Amused, Ari spared him a sideways glance. The misfortune of a grumpy old duck was oddly intensely satisfying, bringing a quick, sly smirk to her lips. He was too busy seething to notice. Before the bubble of laughter could burst from her chest, she forced her sights back onto the path stretched upward before them.

“Okay, then. Up a thousand and one steps we go!”

Mistaking her newfound gusto for optimism, Sora fell in step right behind her, a determined grin plastered across his face, followed closely by Goofy and a comically disgruntled Donald.

* * *

Atop the mountain on a balcony of ice stood a lone figure, dressed in a gown of misty blue that pooled upon the floor and shimmered with every movement. Two hands curled loosely around the crystallized rails as a single sigh escaped her, a long strand of blond hair floating absently over her face as she hung her head.

“It's better this way,” her voice whispered. A moment longer she stood there, allowing her thoughts and shaken heart to settle, before she finally swept away from the edge and began her return into the confines of her sanctuary. Not two steps were taken before she froze. Nearby voices echoed against the night and found their way to her ears. Panicked, she whirled back around to look over the mountaintop. What foolish act it was to look for her here! Could they not give her peace? Did they not know the dangers of her very existence? Swiftly she backed away from the edge and into a corner just as the newcomers came into view. What did they want with her? What had they come to accomplish? Hidden from sight, she prayed silently that they would simply turn and leave.

No such luck.

“ **Whoa.** ”

Down below, four companions huffed and puffed to a complete stop just before the palace bridge. Ari followed its curve to the palace entrance, and from there up its sleek lines all the way to the very top, her jaw slack.

“Holy crap. Now **that's** a palace.”

“Hmmm,” his tone indicated complex scrutiny, but it was clear in the magician's eyes that even _he_ could not help but be impressed.

“Ready, guys?” Sora's voice forced them all back to the present issue at hand.

Determination set on each of their faces, they silently followed the keyblade wielder past the bridge and through the palace doors, where every step taken within bounced eerily off the naked walls and pillars. Centered between two widely arched stairways on either side of the expansive foyer stood a single, frozen fountain of water made entirely of hardened ice.

“This is too pretty to belong to someone like Maleficent,” Ari spoke softly. “There's just no way.”

No retort or comment was made. A tense, silent moment passed between them as echoes faded into oblivion. Then, “Come on,” Sora urged.

Careful steps they took up the crystal stairway, each barely breathing as they climbed. At its end, two more greeted them to their left and right. They paused.

“Which way?” Donald wondered, studying them both.

“It may not matter,” Ari supplied. “They might lead to the same place again.”

“What if we split up?” Sora offered.

“No,” Ari instantly advised. “If Maleficent's here, we'll need to stay together.” Those stone cold eyes flashed across her memory, and she shuddered inwardly. _I'm not even sure that much will be enough_ , she thought, but felt no need to share her grim outlook. Even if she died trying, she would never stop fighting for her sister – she knew that well, even as a fear of what awaited them spread slowly through her limbs to linger at their tips and build a cozy nest at the back of her mind. This journey may have very well spelt her death, but if her baby sister wound up dead...

_I may as well be, too._

“I guess you're right,” Sora nodded.

“Let's just pick one and go, then,” Donald decided. Nodding, they all momentarily looked at each other and at both paths.

Ari took a chance and started leftward.

“Come on,” Sora urged, and they followed without hesitation. This time an open set of twin doors greeted them, swung wide open inwardly on their hinges to a vast open space. At the other end, another set of twin doors sat open, and beyond it stood a balcony from which a spectacular mountain view of the crisp, early morning peeked back at them.

Ari's jaw dropped. “I want to live here,” she decided.

The boys took a few steps within the chamber and looked around from where they stood. Ari started straight for the outdoor view.

“There's nothing here,” Donald said.

“Let's try the other side,” Sora suggested.

Ari was one step away from being surrounded by the godly vision.

“Hey, freeloader! We're leaving you behind!”

Mid-step she stopped and cringed, desperately disappointed at the waddling mage's timing. She turned back with a frown to see them already disappearing beyond her view. “Oh, come **on**!” Her hurried footsteps echoed softly through the room.

A single sigh escaped pursed lips as tense shoulders fell back. Blue eyes opened lazily to point at her open palm, fingers bent toward the sky. A loosely balled flurry of ice and snow melted suddenly back down into her palm and then vanished in a swirl as a cylinder of snowflakes floated down to rest on the floor around her. Shaking, she breathed deeply to calm her nerves as she curled herself into a ball, laying her head defeatedly against arms wrapped atop her knees, her blond braid peaking out from the shadow of a single arm. Saved by a miracle. At least for the time being.

* * *

The palace was empty; that much they now knew. Left or right, it made no difference. A bedroom here, another room there; they were the only living things within its walls as far as they could tell.

“What a waste,” Donald grumbled.

“We don't necessarily know that,” Ari tried.

“Right. At least we know she's not here,” Sora offered. “That's one down.”

“Unless that's what she wants us to think,” Donald argued.

“We can always come back, can't we?”

Sora smiled at Ari. “Yeah, definitely!”

“Now hold on just one minute,” Donald glowered. “That's **my** ship you're cruising in!”

“What if we find the king the next time around?”

“Wha-?”

“Ahyuk, he's got a point there.”

“Oh, whatever.”

Three voices joined in laughter as four bodies exited the building, abruptly silenced by a furious, deep roar that echoed far beyond the reaches of the North Mountain. It shocked the bird and canine right out of their skins, and Ari's stomach instantly knotted as her expression shifted dramatically. Sora directed his somber attention right to the source.

Beyond the bridge, standing menacingly at the edge of the treeline from whence they came, stood a monster several feet tall and half as wide, built entirely out of ice and snow. If that bellow of rage was any indication, it was either rabid and throwing a fit, or they had just unwittingly trespassed within its home.

Ari gulped. “Sora.”

“Yeah,” a nod.

She clarified. “Fire. Now.”

Sora, as if woken anew, snapped his focus on his keyblade, reaching out to grasp it as it materialized, and wasted no time in taking Ari's suggestion to heart. A single fireball sped with a word toward the creature, slamming squarely into its shoulder, sending sizzling snow scattering and steaming out of existing.

The four broke apart with little pause. Sora sprang for the bridge railing, gliding effortlessly across it past the chasm beneath. Goofy positioned himself directly in the center as Ari and Donald took off running the remainder of the way. Once the two were out of range, he bent his arm inward with shield in hand before hurling it toward the monster.

Enraged after Sora's attack, it thundered, heaving its chest outward in a deafening display of intimidation as spikes of ice suddenly appeared across its body. It bent forward, baring its icicle teeth in a growl, but as it took a heavy step forward, it was met against the head with Goofy's spinning shield. Its head snapped back as body followed until it was inches deep in the snow as the shield spun back around to its owner, who then dove forward to the other side of the bridge, where the others had already successfully dispersed around the creature.

“Let's get out of here!” Donald beckoned them, and no one argued. The monster now gathering itself from the snow, they took what little time was offered to make a beeline for the trees, branches and needled leaves making stinging contact against their faces as they flung themselves through the evergreen forest. Behind them, they could hear trees being torn from their roots.

Then suddenly, it went silent. Goofy paused to look behind him. Had they made a safe getaway?

“Goofy!!”

Up above, the form of a tree pointed downward like an arrow began to take shape.

“Uh-oh!” But his voice was abruptly cut off when he was pulled aggressively back around by the arm, Sora at the lead, just as the tree came crashing down where he had once stood, splintering and throwing snow, wood, and leaves everywhere.

In her attempt to see the damage, only for a moment, some of it caught in Ari's eyes. _Shit!_ She rubbed at them furiously, trying desperately to keep her balance. _Doesn't matter_ , she told herself. _Keep going!_

Up ahead, Donald came skidding to a full stop. “Oh, no...”

“Donald, he's right behind us!” Sora and Goofy came barreling forward, Ari not far behind, trailed firmly by the monster as it drew steadily closer.

“Wait! Stop!” the magician begged.

“What do you mean?!” Sora slid to a halt just inches from Donald and looked ahead. “ **Oh...** ” came the dreadful realization.

Goofy stopped just beyond them both, upper body scrambling for balance overlooking a hideously long drop. “Whoa!”

“Goofy!” Sora reached out to steady him, but Donald was focused on another issue that was proving much less simple. Ari was still running full speed. Right. Toward. Him.

“Aw, phoo-” Her body slammed into Sora's shoulder, the only thing shielding him from her, which sent her stumbling with a yelp elbow first into Donald, successfully hurling them both, screaming, downward over the cliff. Sora quickly lost balance in the aftermath, grip still firmly locked onto Goofy. Their eyes met. Their faces fell. Then they, too, were suddenly free-falling off the 200-foot drop.

The beast stomped its way out from behind the trees, through the snow, and over to the edge, heaving angrily as he took a peek over it. Hearing their screams fading into the distance only to be cut short by four dull yet satisfying pops, it squared its shoulders, smirked triumphantly, and calmly turned to stomp gleefully back to its beloved ice palace.

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyone else as hyped as I am for what looks like another epic 1000-enemy fight? Eeeee!!
> 
> The suspense is killing me, guys. It's killing me. 
> 
> \-------------------------------------------

CH XV

“ **Owwww**.”

“Will you get off my hat already?!”

Ari felt something shift and inch beneath her left shoulder. Groaning, she dug herself up from the snowy grave she had created, one hand rubbing soothingly against her throbbing tailbone while the other dusted whatever was left of the debris from her eyes.

“ **Sheesh!** ” Donald huffed indignantly as he dusted and wrangled the snow from his hat and shoved it back upon his head, glowering all the while at her, but her attention was on the other two.

“Oof,” came a muffled voice she couldn't quite place. Tangled in a heap just inches away were Goofy and Sora, struggling terribly to right themselves with little success. In sympathy, she resisted the urge to giggle at the predicament. After all, she was quickly realizing that this unfortunate turn of painful events was in fact entirely her fault.

Smiling, she plodded her way through the deep snow until she was standing over them, offering a hand to whosever limb was nearest to her. It was Sora's. With a heave, she lugged him away from the mess she had made of him, miscalculating the effort needed and ending up herself back on her butt in the snow.

Sora shook himself out of his bewilderment as he dusted himself of what snow he could manage. “Huh?” His eyes landed on a sulking Ari.

She mimicked Donald's earlier indignation. “You're welcome.”

“Oh, um, thanks,” he grinned, a hint of amusement in his eyes. Ignoring it, she lifted herself back to her feet a second time as Sora's grin only widened before he turned to assist the tallest among them.

“Well, what now?” Feathered arms crossed, Donald looked about with a scowl at their surroundings.

“Guess we're lost...” Ari shrugged quietly.

“No thanks to you,” he shot back.

“Hey, now. I'm sorry. But at least we're not snow monster brunch.”

“And now the monster's gotten away!”

“ **We** were running form **it,** remember?”

“Guys, come on,” Sora tried. “No use in fighting, we've gotta get back to the city.”

“What's the point? There's nothing here for us anyway,” Donald argued.

“What about the Keyhole?”

All three heads turned to look at Goofy. Sora was the first to nod in agreement. “Exactly. Here,” he reached into a pouch hanging at his side and tossed them a potion each. “Don't forget we also have a witch to find.”

“But she may not even be in this world anymore,” Ari remarked.

“That's if it's even Maleficent we're dealing with, here,” Donald added.

“That's exactly what he have to find out,” Sora asserted.

A moment of grim silence followed. Goofy was already rummaging in his pockets for the map they had used to find the ice palace. They gathered around him as he expanded it.

“Doesn't look like there's any clear path from here,” Ari squinted as her blue eyes flicked across the sheet.

“I guess we'll just have to find our own way,” Sora responded. “Look,” he brought a finger to a point on the page that seemed reasonably within reach. “Isn't there less forest here?”

“So?”

“I see,” Goofy quipped. “An open field means a better view, right? Maybe it means we're more likely to find a road or something, too.”

“Or people,” Sora nodded.

“You don't know that,” Donald pointed out.

“I trust them,” Ari retorted. She pointedly stared at the magician. “Don't you?”

He froze, then, “What are you trying to imply, kid?”

“Hm, why so defensive, Donald?” She teased, pointedly ignoring how he chose to refer to her. “Does that mean I hit it right on the nose?” An exaggerated gasp escaped her. “Donald, for shame! And I thought they were your friends!” She frowned disapprovingly at him as he slowly and silently seethed. A hand to her tight lips holding back a laugh, she squared her shoulders and started past him.

Sora followed. “Don't tease him like that,” he smirked mischievously. “He might actually explode, you know.”

“What?! Sora, not you, too!” came the disbelieving screech as Ari doubled over. The brunette simply offered a toothy grin.

A frustrated sigh escaped the magician. “Forget it. Let's just go already,” he marched off past them, mumbling, “bunch'a hooligans,” under his breath.

Sora, snickering, sprinted after him, leaving Ari shaking her head and Goofy watching amused, sharing a chuckle and a shrug. She smiled widely at him, and then they too were on their way.

* * *

 

Aside from the occasional moment taken to discuss their path forward, their winding and wandering through unfamiliar territory remained mostly void of conversation until at last they came upon land along downward slopes where the snow began to thin. Eventually it faded into solid, hard, dry ground as the last of the sunlight faded with it along the horizon.

“Oh, thank the mother of **all** that is **good** in the **universe**!” came the gracious cry of their female companion. No responses were offered in exchange. Instead, her canine friend stopped and pointed ahead of them.

“Hey, look over there.”

Following his lead, they halted and observed.

“Geysers!” Ari cried happily.

“Huh?” Goofy now seemed confused.

“That's not what he's pointing at, dummy,” Donald shook his head. “Look over there!”

“But-”

“I wonder what that's all about. What is this place?” Sora was already wandering ahead, twisting his spiked head this way and that as he contemplated in curiosity the perfectly rounded boulders scattered about.

“It's just a bunch of rocks, guys,” she rolled her eyes.

Donald waltzed over to one dismissively and hopped his white feathery tush right on top of it. “Finally,” he sighed.

“Uh, is it okay to do that, Donald?” Something told Goofy it wasn't.

“Why not? It's about time we took a reasonable break.”

The only reply he got to that came from directly below him; suddenly, he was shaken and tossed aside as the boulder he was seated on unfurled itself, growing legs, arms, a face, large ears, and even a mossy head of hair. It glared at him as Goofy gasped in surprise.

“How rude,” it spoke with a woman's voice, “sitting on me like that! Didn't anyone teach you any manners?”

Ari blinked, then slowly sighed in resignation. If she allowed herself anymore bewilderment at this point, she was sure to stop remembering how to function altogether. Obviously, nothing and everything was normal in the universe. Her world seemed to be the only exception as far as she could tell. How boring.

Meanwhile, Donald gawked unapologetically as he righted himself. “Wait – what?! What the heck are you?!”

She backtracked with a lifted brow. Her magical talking duck companion was flabbergasted by a magical talking rock. Okay. Perhaps even the normal was not always so normal for the normal.

“What the heck are you?!” the stone threw right back.

She suddenly had the urge to bowl over laughing.

“Hang on a second,” before she could, Sora eased his way into the bizarre conversation.

Following Goofy's lead, Ari warily stalked over to join them.

“He didn't mean you any harm, right Donald?” Sora smiled encouragingly at the fiery magician, seemingly subdued but for the clapping of his webbed feet against the ground. “We're sorry for the mistake.”

Startled, the new creature looked up at the boy. “Oh, well... when you put it that way, apology accepted,” it nodded decisively. “Now just who are you, anyway?”

“I'm Sora! This is Donald, Goofy, and Ari,” he motioned to each.

“Are you friends of Kristoff and Anna? You just missed them; they're already heading back to the palace,” as it spoke, a rumbling began beneath their feet, crescendoing gently upward.

“Kristoff and Anna? Sorry, I don't know who those are,” his eyes scanned his surrounding as he answered. Three of four companions at once noticed several boulders of varying sizes all around, rolling right toward them.

“Uh, Sora...?” Ari started.

“Do you think they have something to do with the witch on the mountain?” Goofy offered, blissfully preoccupied with the two names. But that was short lived.

The boulders were upon them now, surrounding them completely, pushing and tripping the four closer together as they gathered and revealed themselves. They looked curiously upon the four new faces. One particularly grassy boulder rolled itself up inches before Sora's feet and opened up to stand upon its own, barely reaching the height of the boy's waist thanks to his full head of straw-like hair..

“You have a strange magic,” it spoke with an aged and smooth male voice.

Blindsided, silence captured them momentarily.

Gathering his wits, Sora wondered aloud, “You can tell just by looking at me?”

“Is it dangerous?” A voice among the crowd cried out.

“Can it help Anna?” Another tried.

“Hush,” he held a palm to quell the curious crowd.

“Who's this Anna we keep hearing about?” Ari inquired.

“Your friend is correct,” he began in response, referring first to Goofy's earlier question. It seemed clear this one had to be their leader. “Anna is sister to Elsa, the one with magic who fled to the North Mountain,” he clarified.

“Sister?” Sora and Donald gasped simultaneously as Ari's brows lifted.

“Then, it's not Maleficent like we thought?” Goofy mused.

“I do not know that name,” the elder boulder shook his head.

“Still, that means in that empty palace up there **is** a witch after all. We obviously missed something,” Donald said.

“Which means we have to go back,” Sora added in agreement. “We have to know for sure that Maleficent and the Heartless aren't involved.”

“Be very cautious,” the leader warned. “You must not let her powers touch your heart.”

Resolved, they nodded, but before they could leave, Sora had one more thought. “Uh, I didn't catch your name.”

The elder smiled. “My name is Pabbie. Should you run into any trouble or have any questions, visit the valley anytime. I'll be here.”

“Or if you and the lady are ready for a wedding!” a random voice supplied, to which cheers and laughter erupted around them.

The four stared wide eyed. An instant later, Donald broke into wild guffaws.

“Wh-Ah- No, I think you have the wrong idea!” Sora waved his hands dramatically in an attempt to dispel the sudden hype.

“Don't be shy!” another unknown voice insisted. The crowd buzzed.

“Ok. Well. I think it's time we leave now,” Ari wasn't sure whether to be amused or annoyed, but clearly they were having too much fun with the idea. Who was she to kill the party?

Sora was still blushing in shock. “But- hey, aren't you going to tell them they're wrong?!”

She shrugged and maneuvered her way out of the crowd as Pabbie tried to shush his overexcited people. Donald followed, perfectly happy with Sora's panicked state as he wiped away at the tears poking from the corners of his eyes. Goofy, giggling softly with a tilted head, offered Sora a more friendly shrug than Ari's and started along the path she'd opened. The brunette had no choice now but to give up on the misunderstanding and follow closely behind, but not before asking for directions back to the mountain. With a thanks and wave goodbye, he caught up to the others and they turned north once more, far away from dry land and hot, steamy geysers, much to Ari's distress.

“So, Ari,” Donald's voice traveled unhindered through the frigid air. “I wonder why you didn't bother to correct their idea of you and Sora.”

It was spoken innocently, as though he were making nonchalant conversation, but the raised eyebrow and smirk he held gave him away.

Ari eyed him sideways. As if the repeat journey through the ice, snow, and cold weren't bad enough on their own.

She could swear she once actually liked ducks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short one, but FINALLY the last of the canon chapters, far more than I anticipated there would be. In my head, there was so much less to muddle through. Am I the only one who finds sticking to the canon bits really challenging? Bah, I did this to myself. Oh well. 
> 
> Sorry, no riding the Marshmallow in this version (sounds like the effects of a hallucinogen). 
> 
> Hope everyone's been keeping up with the releases (and avoiding illegal spoilers!!). This last trailer has me feeling like Sora toward the end. 
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------

CH. XVI

“I officially **hate** snow. Hate it, hate it, **hate it!** ” Grumbling, groaning, whining, and moaning, Ari trudged begrudgingly alongside her fellow travelers, all of whom had long ago tuned her out in favor of peace and sanity.

Donald might have strangled her otherwise. In fact, he was quite certain he had almost allowed himself to try several times before just barely managing to suppress the homicidal urge.

As the sun began to rise in the eastern sky, a fierce, familiar roar rode across the air and made its way to their ears just as they neared the palace on the mountaintop. It stopped them in their tracks, and they took a moment to let the sound sink in.

Donald frowned. “That monster's still causing trouble!”

“Come on,” Sora urged. “We've gotta hurry!”

Occupied now with thoughts of what might be happening outside those palace doors, they lifted their legs and hurried their way through the now well trodden mountain snow until sounds of an obvious strife could be heard. There, a company of men stood against the snow monster in a chaotic flurry of arrows and bodies flying about.

One man unsheathed his sword and sliced at the creature to no avail, only serving in angering it further. “Come on!” he called out to the others, ducking past the monster, who then swung his arm around to slam against him the back of his clawed white hand and send him sprawling.

“Sora!” Donald was already reacting, pointing his staff high above his head as he conjured his magic. The boy in question nodded and ran over to help the man that had only now been flung aside, reaching out a hand to help him stand once more. Shaking the snow and daze off, he looked at the newcomer curiously.

“You go on ahead,” Sora told him. “We'll handle the big guy.”

The man hesitated. “Who are you?”

“My name is Sora, and my friends are Goofy, Donald, and Ari.”

He nodded. “Hans,” he said simply, and took Sora's hand in a firm shake. “Be careful.”

Sora offered a nod before Hans scurried up the bridge, ushering his men to follow. Donald, Goofy, and Ari were successfully diverting the monster's attention now, and soon Hans and his men were well within the palace walls.

The creature bent its wide knees and swept its arms around to encircle the closest person before it, which at this point happened to be Ari. Ducking in a panic, she dove headfirst between its legs and slid through the snow to end up behind it. Goofy took the opportunity to send his shield spinning toward its lowered head. It bopped the beast in the forehead, sending snow flying and its head slowly upward with a groan. Back, back it went, and the way its heels crunched in the snow made Ari blanch with the sinking realization that it was slowly falling backward.

She squeaked and stumbled desperately out of the way, but the creature stumbled equally in her direction. Her breath hitched at something flying at her, but it spun above her head and past it, crashing into the creature's back. When the sight of Sora cleared before her, a joyful realization struck her and she smiled at him. He nodded in acknowledgement and reached out to reclaim his boomeranging weapon.

The monster roared.

As Ari cleared out of the way, Sora rushed forward and past it. The boys were fanned out before it now, Donald and Sora propelling fire at it as Goofy aided with his shield. Ari ran off to extend the human fan and noticed with renewed clarity that they were slowly backing the raging beast into the chasm that opened up below the staircase bridge. She pushed forth a force of wind, and soon the creature was toppling backwards. When it showed resistance, flailing in a desperate attempt to regain balance, Goofy ran forth and gave one final swing of his arm, his shield spinning to deal the final blow that sent its roars fading into silence.

“Yes!” she cheered.

“Let's go!” Sora wasted no time, and soon they were bursting right back and up into the icy structure. The cacophony of further strife sent them right back to the grand room with the balcony Ari never got to explore.

At the entrance, Hans' back greeted them for an instant before disappearing with a cry as he dashed further into the room. Led by Sora, they managed to arrive just in time to watch an arrow fly up into the chandelier. It barreled down toward a young blond girl in a blue gown who yelped in surprise and scurried forward in an attempt to escape from its path.

“Watch out!” Donald cried in panic, but to no avail. The force of the crash sent shards of ice everywhere, and the girl was tossed forward into an unconscious heap.

Elsewhere, two men they hadn't noticed were recovering from what seemed to be quite the ordeal. One stumbled in from the broken doorway of a now damaged balcony, and the other was being helped down from an ice prison that held him in place with a pointy icicle directed at his throat. Almost as soon as the latter was free, Hans ordered him and the other arrested.

The four companions stared on in bewilderment.

“What the hell... just happened in here?” Ari mumbled.

“That must be our witch,” Donald motioned toward the girl now sprawled upon the hard floors of the chamber.

“You mean Miss Elza,” Goofy corrected, which Donald countered with his own,  _"Elsa,_ " as Hans' men lifted her up onto a horse and bound her wrists.

Sora frowned at the action. “What are you going to do with her?”

The young prince turned to face his new acquaintance.

“Sora, right?”

He nodded.

“Thank you for your help earlier.”

“Of course!” he replied wholeheartedly, brows still furrowed. “But what about her?”

“We'll take her back to Arendelle, of course.”

“Did she commit some sort of crime?” Goofy chimed, eyeing her binds.

At this, Hans blinked. Then, “did you not attend the coronation? You must have seen the damage.”

They all gave him various sheepish reactions in response.

“We were kind of... otherwise occupied,” Sora shrugged, looking around. “Is she the reason the city is frozen?”

Hans followed his line of sight to the walls of ice that had been earlier absent from the space. “This is her power. Terrifying, isn't it? Come on,” he tilted his head toward the exit, “I'll explain everything on the way.”

 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All these spoilers floating around. Meanwhile MY PRECIOUS is waiting in my mailbox back home while I'm away on travel. TT_TT 
> 
> What a cruel, twisted world we live in. 
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------

Ch. XVII

Night fell, and each of them were offered warm food, drink, clothes, and quarters to sleep. The place was simple but cozy, with fur and woolen blankets and a wood burning fireplace reaching out with invisible arms to embrace the occupant with their warmth while outside the tapestry framed window hung a single lantern, bright against the frigid cold that clung to the glass and all surrounding surfaces.

It sure would have been nice if all that was enough to keep Ari bundled in bed, but an incessant nagging within her nerves persisted, no matter how much time she spent twisting in bed or forcing her eyes tightly shut. Donald had essentially ordered they leave in the morning if rest was what they so desired for tonight; they hadn't encountered any Heartless, the witch turned out to be the queen, and the people had to deal with their own dilemmas. Any more for them and it would constitute meddling with another world's affairs. Big no-no, or so he loved to lecture. But what was so wrong with helping in dire straits? What could be so disastrous that it warranted keeping other worlds such a classified subject? The Heartless would take care of that one way or another, wouldn't they?

She turned again, tucking a single arm beneath her pillow and folding her knees up toward her chest. Tightly she squeezed her lids together, wanting nothing more than to slip into a blissful, warm dream, but all she could see was darkness; legions of Heartless swaying like the sea, spread out for miles before her, and in their midst was a single strawberry blond head, an arm outstretched, an open mouth silently crying out for her older sister.

How could she have let this happen?

With a growl she flipped over on her back, slamming an arm down into the now folded over layers of cover. All but jumping out of bed, she reached for her discarded clothes hanging over the fireplace and slipped them back on, made her way to the door, and popped open the latch. Unsure whether she was allowed to roam the halls alone, she dragged it open slowly to peak her head silently into the hallway.

She looked left. Then right. No one.

With increased confidence, she stepped out and eased the door shut behind her.

The corridors were dimly lit, and scattered throughout them were stationed guards, some alert, some pacing, and some snoring the wee hours of the night away, the latter of which had her smiling and shaking her head. Twice she'd come across palace staff going about their late night shifts, and neither time did they pause to bother themselves with her free roaming with anymore than a polite question about her direction. “I couldn't sleep,” she'd said. “I just needed to walk for a bit.”

In time she turned a corner after more corner-turning than she'd cared to count and gasped when her body suddenly jolted back with a start, another pair of feet bouncing away from her, a familiar voice grunting in surprise.

“Whoa. Hey. What you doing here?” came the startled inquiry.

Ari looked up, wincing momentarily. “Sora?” She shook her head. “I couldn't sleep.”

He gave her a sheepish smile. “Me neither. I'm going to go talk to Elsa. Maybe she can give us some answers.”

Studying him a moment, she finally said, “That sounds like a good plan. Want some company?”

The brunette smiled. “Having a friend is always better.”

After much searching through dark halls and rounding more corners, they finally came upon a staff member that pointed them in the right direction. Soon enough, they were passing through cold, darker halls with dank cells lining either side. As they searched, echoes of voices began drifting toward them. Immediately they followed the sound until they spotted an open cell with people inside. Almost instantly, they recognized Hans' voice.

Sora ran over before Ari could react. Hans turned to look at them as they entered, mild surprise on his face. Ari ignored him and looked at the other girl, blue eyes wide with defeat and anxiety, her hands held before her, chained and curiously bound with her hands entirely engulfed in metal.

Elsa's eyes went apprehensively from Hans to the other two. “Who... Who are you?” She seemed frantic, almost as a cornered animal.

“I'm Sora, and this is Ari. We're friends of Hans'.”

Saying nothing, Ari quirked a brow at Sora.

“They helped us when we came upon you in your palace,” Hans clarified.

His prisoner quickly moved on. “Hans, where is Anna?” she forced.

“Anna hasn't returned,” his arms crossed against the cold. “Elsa-”

“Anna's your sister,” Ari interjected, as if to confirm out loud what she had earlier learned. The other girl watched her carefully. “Elsa, did you do this on purpose? Freeze the city?”

“What?” she gasped.

“Please, Elsa, take back this winter. Bring back Summer,” pleaded Hans.

“You don't understand,” her tone was desperate. “I **can't**.”

Disappointed, her captor moved away, his eyes downcast.

“Please, Hans, you have tell them to let me go!”

“I'll do what I can,” he said, leaving the cell. “You two?”

“Yeah, we're coming,” Sora nodded definitively, but as he exited, the other pair of footsteps he expected to accompany were absent. Within the threshold he paused, looking back.

“Why can't you?” his company had chosen to ignore them both, feet planted toward the captive queen.

In response, the blond hung her head. “I can't control it.”

With a sigh, Ari turned toward the exit but didn't budge. “I have a younger sister, too.”

Startled, Elsa looked up. A moment of silence passed as Sora watched curiously. “She went out looking for me,” her voice began softly. “If she hasn't returned by now, she could be in danger. Please, someone has to find her.”

Ari turned back around halfway to meet her eyes. “We can do that,” behind her, Sora seemed mildly startled. She brought a hand up to trace the silver between her collar bones and continued: “We'll find her and get her back home safe.”

“I can't spare any more men,” Hans informed them once Elsa was presumably out of earshot.

“Then we'll find her and bring her back here ourselves,” she declared as Sora watched from beside her.

The man nodded, “I truly wish I could go with you,” seeming genuinely regretful. “Good luck,” he said, “and thank you.”

* * *

As the blackened sky hung above them, Sora and Ari found themselves far from the castle in the cold on their own.

“Y'know, you could have warned me that was your plan.”

Her fingers dug themselves into her covered and folded arms against the chill. “Weren't you going to do it anyway?”

He took a moment to contemplate this, blue eyes toward the sky as he hummed in thought. “I'm not sure it's really our problem anymore.”

Displeasure and surprise stopped her in her tracks. “I... guess I just expected...” her eyes met the darkened snow, tinted blue under the cover of night. “We can't just let her freeze to death out there. Isn't this what we do?”

“Well... when you put it that way...” A hand was brought up to rub his head from behind. “Donald really isn't going to like this, though.”

She huffed in response. “What's that matter? He doesn't like anything, anyway, the old grouch.” Her feet commanded them forward once more.

“Ahaha. I mean, this is meddling with another world, isn't it? We haven't run into any darkness and all...”

She didn't answer.

Beyond the city border they came upon the strange and comical sight of a sturdy looking fellow and what looked like a large, antlered moose toppled and confused, half buried in the snow. The great beast pulled and nudged at his handler.

“I'm up, I'm up!” A youthful voice escaped the boy as he stumbled to his feet and berated the animal, shooing him away with grand sweeps of his arms.

Had this guy fallen asleep in the snow?

The moose had no problem yelling right back, but before long the two of them were searching wildly around them.

“Did you see where they went?” the boy, his blond hair matted against his forehead and ears beneath a thick beanie, asked quite loudly.

“Where who went?” Ari caught Sora's eye, their expressions equally dubious.

The animal went instantly on the defensive, taking a dangerous stance, and his companion whirled around to face them, his pale cheeks and wide nose reddened.

“Did you see a girl?” he asked with round, panicked brown eyes. “Red hair, stupid smile, talks too much?”

“Um...” Sora tilted his head, a finger scratching at his scalp.

“What the hell happened to you?” Ari asked, exasperated.

The blond boy's face fell. “We were attacked,” he hurriedly explained. “I think they took her.”

Their shoulders tensed as the two looked at each other again.

“Who took whom?” Ari pried.

“Anna,” he told her. “The princess! Some weird looking guys took her!”

The moose, relaxing, joined in the conversation, loudly and incoherently.

“Hold it, Sven!”

But he would not, nuzzling the boy hard in the side.

“Hey!”

The animal continued, flicking his head this way and that. His eyes slowly widening in some realization, the boy looked around them.

“Oh, no,” came his distressed sigh.

“What is it?” Sora tried.

“Olaf is gone,” he pointed to the snow going uphill and away from the city. “Sven thinks he must have gone back up the North Mountain.”

Sighing in frustration, Ari rubbed at her forehead and looked at the strange couple before her. “So let me get this straight. You had Elsa's sister, but you were attacked and she was kidnapped, and for some reason you think your buddy abandoned you back to Elsa's frozen hell?”

The two natives looked at one another, then back to her, and nodded simultaneously.

“Why'd he go there?” Sora wondered aloud.

“He's probably thinking that's where he'll find her. That maybe they took her back to Elsa.”

"Why would they do that?"

“It's a lead,” Ari said, her voice flattening with the thought of going back there **again**.

Sora paused in thought a moment. "I guess so. Okay," he agreed. "Let's go, too."

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You don't understand. There's a snow monster up there, and he's not a happy marshmallow.”

“Huh? Well, we definitely saw a snow monster, but he's gone now.”

“We knocked him into the crevice,” Ari confirmed.

A pause later, he shook his blond head. “Hey, hold it. Who are you guys, anyway?”

“We're looking for Anna. Elsa asked us to. I'm Ari, and this is Sora. Friends,” she shrugged.

“Elsa...?”

“Hans has her imprisoned in the palace,” came Sora's clarification.

“What? Wait a minute. If that's true, it can't have been Elsa that took her!”

“It's our only clue,” Ari countered. “We have a hunch of our own, anyway,” she shrugged again, Sora agreeing beside her silently. “Friend of Anna's?” she gestured to him with a nod.

“Name's Kristoff. This is Sven,” to which the moose snorted in greeting.

“Hold it right there!” a familiar voice cut through the cold night air from behind.

Surprised, Sora and Ari turned to find Donald and Goofy huffing and puffing their way over to them from the direction they'd previously come.

“Oh. Hey there,” Sora greeted sheepishly.

“Where did you think you were going without us, kid?!” began the magician's interrogation.

“Hans told us where to find ya,” Goofy offered matter-of-factly. “Sorry we're late. Ahyuk.”

“Why are you apologizing?!” The mage's bopped a feather over the canine's head, and Goofy cried out.

“Sorry!”

Donald heaved a frustrated sigh and opened his beak to berate them again, but Ari stopped him mid breath.

“Anna was kidnapped.”

They were stunned to silence, their minds racing to the obvious implication.

“Friends of yours?”

Sora nodded in response to the Arendelle native. “This is Donald and Goofy,” he motioned to each in turn.

Kristoff greeted them silently before moving on. “Someone needs to let Anna's sister and fiancé know.”

“Don't worry,” Sora comforted. “We promised to find Anna and bring her back.”

“Then we'll go with you.”

The beast beside him nodded eagerly.

“No way, pal. We're a team and four's a crowd. You go tell prince charming, we'll go find the girl. We can take care of things from here.” Feathered arms crossed under a stern face.

“Do you even know what you're doing?”

“We won't let Elsa down,” Ari assured. “Besides, we killed the snow monster, remember?”

The look he gave them was skeptical, but after a moment he nodded, much to Sven's obvious chagrin. “I'm trusting you,” he said, voice low. “We'll catch up with you after," then the four were climbing back north to the mountain as Kristoff yanked a stubborn Sven back toward the castle.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just made it to Arendelle today. I think I'm on the final boss battle. 
> 
> I simultaneously laughed and cried (the latter part inwardly, I guess) at the amount of times we were forced to climb up that damn mountain. 
> 
> Is this Karma? 
> 
> \-----------------------------------------------------------------

CH. XVIII

To say they were unpleasantly shocked would be to dismiss the complexity of annoyance, distress, and confusion that flourished between them. Clouds of darkness, familiar but unwelcome, came to life all around them as they passed through the winter chill, throwing them off guard on their previously heartless-free path. What they birthed were prancing reindeer, colorful and sinister, with those unmistakeable glowing eyes and black faces, icicles for antlers and a fluffy blue body, a familiar heart-like emblem flaunted upon their chests.

“What the?”

“Here, too?!” Sora raised his Keyblade as Donald shook off his confusion.

“They're kinda cute,” Ari mused, to which Goofy, shield forward, replied:

“But they're Heartless!”

A miserable sigh escaped her as he dashed forward, spinning with his arms and shield out as he sliced through one until it popped out of existence. “Right,” she agreed under her nose before she, too, became a part of the ruckus, beginning first with a test of magic.

_Well, we're in snow, so..._ She splayed a palm outward. “Fire,” she commanded. A few seconds later, her blade replaced the emptiness in her palm. Maybe she had to do it like Sora with his oversized key and just point and shoot instead? She promptly decided it wasn't worth the effort when she was practically skewered with an antler from behind for the effort.

Again and again, these things reappeared all along their journey.

“I guess reindeer are all the rage here.” The Keyblade flashed out of existence.

“They're probably native,” Donald informed. “Like Sven.”

“Except that big guy's a moose, ain't he?” Goofy inquired.

Ari had thought the same.

“Yeah. This ain't the North Pole,” Sora added. “Sven's nothing like these Heartless guys **or** Santa's reindeer.”

“Sora. Santa? Really?” his female companion cocked a brow at him.

“What? It's true.”

“Anyway, it doesn't matter. Moose and reindeer are like the same thing.”

“No way! Really?”

Goofy blinked and nodded in understanding, but Donald kept on as he shook his billed head.

“Bunch o' boneheads.” Perhaps it was wiser to continue silently. Certainly healthier for his sanity.

* * *

“What the hell are we looking at?”

By the time they had arrived at the icy palace and climbed those curved stairs once more, the sun had risen past its full glory among the scattered wisps of white clouds. Through the broken and wide open balcony threshold, little light made it through. Here and there some crystals shimmered with the faint light, but nothing near so bright as what met their sights in the center of the room.

Near the innumerable shards of the shattered chandelier lay a girl floating mere feet above the floor, her body limp and enshrouded in a golden-black glow circling around her, traveling constantly in loops as if somehow if it stopped, the world would stop with it. Her hair hung in two red-orange braids, her face wrapped in porcelain skin, large eyes gently lidded. A fraction of her strands had been dyed white, and a heavy fuchsia cloak hung from her shoulders, gently pooling below her. Nearby, a snowman that had somehow been brought indoor was lying sprawled against the floor with its lower third having rolled several feet from the rest of him.

Most intriguing of all, there stood by the comatose girl a familiar individual highly unexpected.

It brought Ari to a complete halt. “Hey... isn't that...?”

“Riku!” The frown on Sora's face spoke volumes of his confusion, but in his voice was a level of glee.

The boy in question barely flinched, turning to face them as if he'd heard them coming from miles away. “Well, look who it is. What took you so long? Too busy showing off that Keyblade of yours, no doubt.”

So accusing, his tone. The others scowled.

“Let the girl go!” Donald ordered.

He did nothing but lift a single silver brow at the magician. “Let her go?” He chuckled. “Hey, I just found her this way, surrounded by Heartless.” His hand was swept across dismissively, his attention back on Sora. “What's it matter, anyway? Aren't there other things you should be worrying about, Sora?”

“What are you talking about?” His expression had gradually relaxed, though he eyed the scene before him oddly.

“What am I talking about?” the other echoed. “Don't tell me you forgot about her already.”

“Wha? Hey, wait a second-”

“If you're done here, how's about you get out of our way,” Donald intervened, eyelids dropped low and arms crossed as he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at Sora's supposed friend. “We're on a mission, and we're taking the girl with us now.”

Riku frowned at the duck. “And if I don't? What are you gonna do about it?”

“Hey, come on, guys. There's no need to fight about it. It's not like Riku's the enemy, Donald.”

But the two were locked in a battle of stares; the Keyblade wielder's plea went unheeded.

“Sora's right,” Goofy tried, too. “He can help us bring Anna back, don't ya think, Donald?”

Nothing. They could practically see the sparks flying between them.

Beside them and uncharacteristically silent, Ari carefully scrutinized the interaction, her eyebrows twitching together. There it was again, that iciness crawling along her skin, alarm bells in her head, and adrenaline pumping through her racing heart. Dully, she realized she was shaking. Her face felt hot.

Elsa's sister was **right there** , a living embodiment of the test of will it would take to save her own. Maleficent was nowhere in sight. Yet here stood this boy that for every smoothly spoken word out of his mouth a needle pricked at the confines of her mind, and she was struggling.

“Riku, stop messin' around. Where did you disappear to anyway? You should be hanging with us!” Sora's voice was muddled in her mind.

“I think I'll pass. Besides, someone else needs me more, seeing as how you're preoccupied and all.”

A pause. “You... don't mean Kairi, do you?” Riku didn't bother to answer. He simply turned his body to face Anna, his back to them. “Riku! Do you know where Kairi is?” Sora's voice now held hope with a drop of urgency.

“I might,” he turned halfway to look back at the brunette. “But there wouldn't be any point in telling you, anyway.”

Ari could feel a string of anger seep its way through the haze. _We've always been friends_ , he'd said. Really?

“Wha- Why not?!”

“Do you even care enough to want to know?”

Her eyes lifted in his direction as her brows lowered.

“We've been searching everywhere for you two!”

“Is that what you've been doing?”

“These guys have been helping me look for you and Kairi across a ton of worlds!”

“Ha. Really, now?”

“Why are you acting like this?”

She could hear the despair creeping into his voice.

“What is it you've really been doing out there, Sora?”

“But I just told you-!”

“You're a real fucking treat, aren't you?”

Argument gave way to harsh silence. A cutting pair of green eyes flickered to clash with Ari's glaring blue ones. She flinched. Every muscle in her body seemed to want nothing more than to tear her away from that glare, but what anger had risen she latched onto with everything she had. _Don't you dare look away_ , she warned inwardly; truthfully, she wasn't sure she could have even if she'd wanted. Her hands had curled to fists at her side, her jaw stiff and teeth clenched tight.

“Who the hell are you?” his chin rose ever so slightly. “Not that it matters. This isn't any of your business, so stay the hell out of it.”

_That voice_.

Her expression darkened. “I protect my friends. Something you clearly know nothing about.” Vaguely, she registered Sora's urging voice intervening, but it was so oddly distant now.

“Oh, I get it.” He eyed Sora briefly. “You're just another replacement.”

_Who are you?_

Her heart was racing. “Sora's allowed to make other friends besides you!” Had she even blinked since he looked at her?

“Hey! Nobody's replacing anybody! Riku, you're acting really strange! Quit it already!”

“The girl's all yours,” his back was to them again, but not before Ari caught a glimpse of the rage that flashed in his bright eyes – eyes that even in their absence had seared themselves vividly into her vision. “I only came to scope the place out. Nothing for me here.” He was already on his way through the balcony threshold. “See ya.”

“Wait! Riku!”

Like waking suddenly, the world around her came back into focus in full as her body seemed to deflate, her mind clearing and muscles loosening, but the world around her still felt oddly surreal, all but for a single detail: the acute disoriented outrage that Riku had left her with.

Sora had dashed after his old friend.

_Don't leave me here!_

The memory hit her heart like a hammer, filled with its lingering confusion and despair. Her dreams still haunted her, but she'd yet to find answers to them. Nothing about them made any sense. Nothing but Reina.

Goofy called after him; Donald sighed and hung his head in his hand. “This is getting way outa hand.” Then he, too, called Sora's attention to him. “Let's get the girl and go! That weirdo's long gone again already.”

Sora's shoulders sagged. “I just don't get it...”

Donald gave him a hard nudge in the side when their paths met again. “Don't sweat it too much. There's no pouting allowed, remember?”

“Huh? I'm not pouting!” He pouted.

“Does anyone know how to turn this thing off?” Goofy had a finger to his elongated chin, searching the cloud that held Anna for a clue. As he did so, the strange light disappeared in a soft flash and her body fell gently to the floor.

“How'd you do that?” Sora wondered.

“Well, I didn't do anything, I don't think.”

“Whatever,” Ari said, sounding breathless. “Just pick her up and let's go. The sooner we get her home the better.”

“Right. Ahyuk. I've got her.”

“Wait for me!”

Startled, they turned to look in the direction of the new voice. To their shock, the lower third of the snowman was struggling on its stubby legs, drunkenly winding every which way to find its path back to the rest of its body, which was now flailing its tiny arms in an attempt to direct it.

“You're alive?” Donald gawked.

“Hang on- no- over here!” The legs stumbled awkwardly in his direction.

“Seriously?” Ari stared.

“Oh for the sake of all things magical!” Donald stomped over and picked the upper body up, carrying it straight to its sluggish lower third. “Keep still!” he ordered, and plopped the little guy forcefully upon his lower body with a triumphant and exasperated, “hmph.”

“Oh! Oh, thank you so much! I'm whole again!”

“What **are** you?” the duck asked him.

“I'm a snowman! Can't you tell?”

He deadpanned. “I can see that,” he mumbled.

“Then why'd ya ask?”

“Okay, **who** are you?” Ari interjected. “And how are you alive?”

“I'm Olaf!” He bounced around to face her, smiled, and gave a big wave of his tiny, twiggy hand. “Elsa made me!”

“She **made** you?” the two inquisitors echoed.

“Yeah!”

“Wow. Her magic can do that?” Sora was in awe.

“Sure! It can do all sorts of things. I mean, look at this place!”

“Lovely. Can we get back to the city already?” came Donald's voice.

“Yay! The whole family back together again! Hey, who are you guys anyway? You're not friends with those funny looking guys that took Anna, are you?” He hopped back a step and adopted a presumably menacing expression as he looked them over.

Donald rolled his eyes and walked, but Sora laughed amicably. “Don't worry. We're here to help. I'm Sora,” he offered. “Come on. We'll explain everything on the way. We need to get Anna back to Arendelle.” With their new companion making more noise than Ari in the snow on a good day, much to Donald's and, ironically, Ari's shared annoyance, they began their trek back.

Unfortunately, Sora wasn't intending to be much help with keeping him silently occupied. “Hey, Olaf. Can you tell us how you and Anna ended up like that?”

“Huh? That's a good question! I was hoping you'd know.”

“We'd know?” Goofy echoed.

“Yeah! I mean, I must have been sleeping. I don't remember wanting to sleep and losing my legs. But I _do_ remember trying to help Anna. Didn't get far. Next thing I remember is waking up in Elsa's palace and you were there! Making a lotta noise. What was **that** about?”

“Ah... haha. It's complicated, I guess,” was all Sora could offer with a shrug.

As they exited and crossed the chasm, another surprise awaited them, blocking their route down the carved mountain steps. Standing there facing them were the two men they had witnessed struggling against Elsa in her palace before she was captured. Utterly baffled, the companions paused.

“Hey, it's you guys!” Sora spoke first.

Goofy looked at the other two. “Weren't they in the palace when Elsa was taken prisoner?”

Donald eyed them apprehensively.

“That means they're Hans' men, right?” The canine continued.

As they contemplated with hushed voices, one of the two addressed them – the taller one, with thick arms and broad shoulders, sporting a goatee. He said, “We have orders to bring the princess back with us. Your services are no longer needed.”

“Uhm... huh?”

Donald's suspicion grew. There was something about these guys he couldn't quite place, though he knew it was in his memory somewhere.

“But I thought Hans said-”

Goofy, broadcasting to all this time, was cut off. “Hans is currently preoccupied. We come in his place. You can leave the girl and go home now.”

“Well, that can't be right,” Ari whispered. Perhaps it was the silver haired turd still slithering around in her mind; something just wasn't sitting well.

“How sweet! True love to the rescue!” Olaf, oblivious to the current climate, brought his hands together with a dramatic sigh. “What a real prince charming. Guys, it's okay now. Anna's totally safe. We can get her to Hans for her true love's kiss and everything will be okay!”

Ari deadpanned with a single lifted brow at the snowman for but a single moment before choosing to ignore the critter.

“Ahyuk. A real fairytale.” Goofy smiled with bright eyes. “But what about the Heartless?”

Ari's eyes went wide. _**What about the Heartless?**_ Goofy was a god damned genius. She whirled toward the boys with urgent blue eyes. “Guys. How the hell did they get **past** the **Heartless**?”

Two pairs of eyes narrowed while one went blank.

“That's it!” a lightbulb figuratively flickered over Donald's head. “These are the guys Hans arrested for trying to hurt the queen!”

Frowns and weapons were drawn. Before them, a crossbow and sword immediately appeared in response.

“Goofy. Get the princess somewhere safe,” the magician ordered.

Ari moved to pull the canine back, Olaf eagerly following until, with Ari's assistance, Goofy gently slid the princess off his back into the snow before the staircase to the palace. “But why would they try to hurt Elsa?” the snowman pressed.

“We don't know,” Ari answered quickly. “They were tightlipped on our way back.”

“Aero!” they heard from Donald. Without warning, plumes of wind and snow flared around the dormant girl and her protectors.

Startled, Ari stared at the movement now surrounding her.

“So awesome!” was what Olaf had to say about it. “You guys know magic, too?”

The timing was lucky. A single arrow flew against then bounced heavily right off of Goofy.

“Come on!” he urged, unfazed.

_Well okay then._

“You go on,” Olaf said to Ari, who in response stared blankly at the living rolls of snow with its long, bright orange carrot nose. Mistaking it for hesitation, he clarified, “I can protect Anna here.”

She blinked.

“I have faith in you!”

A shake of her head as she turned back to the others. Four against two. The funny little guy would be safe back here with Anna.

Sora was already crossing blades with the bigger guy. Her eyes shifted to the other. It looked like Donald and Goofy were having a difficult time approaching as his arrows flew. Ari didn't know much about crossbows, but she was fairly certain they needed time to be reloaded. Didn't they?

Brows furrowed, she followed his movements as he shifted from left to right, shooting his arrows at random intervals from various spots as Donald used his staff to knock them aside and dive, Goofy his shield to block them. When one made it past them and by her feet, she flinched and curled away, but not before something incredibly disconcerting forced a double take.

A subtle black mist traveled along its shaft to dissipate above the nock. It moved so quickly, she almost questioned whether she'd even seen it.

There was no fire. Where was it coming from?

As if the moment read her thoughts, Sora was knocked back by a burst of black energy escaped from his opponent's blade. That was darkness. She was sure of it, and by the look on Sora's face, so was he.

Elsa had fought them in her palace. Was it because she'd seen their darkness? Had it already permeated Arendelle while they were none the wiser?

_Did it follow us here?_

Her heart sank as a blast of ice fell upon the archer and his crossbow dropped heavily into the snow.

“So that's the side you're on!” Sora ran forward, Keyblade raised, but this time his opponent brought a hand up to send forth a new blast of dark power. Sora sliced readily through it and swiped sideways as he reached him. Shocked, the other doubled over as he was thrust back in pain. “If that's how it is, we don't have to hold back.”

In defiance, he peered back up at the boy. His eyes then shifted and met his companion's, now sitting defeated in the snow after Goofy took the cue to knock him down with a fling of his shield.

“He's right,” the fallen archer said as he lifted himself. His partner shifted his back to stand upright as he watched. “We have no need to hold back against you to complete our mission.”

The burly one nodded.

“What's that supposed to mean?” Sora demanded.

“And exactly what mission is that?” Donald followed.

An answerless moment passed as the two closed the distance between one another, then turned to their audience and smirked.

“Oooh, now that's one creepy vibe,” behind an increasingly anxious Ari, Olaf inched all the way back until his heels hit his charge.

“Olaf.” Ari's grip on her weapon tightened. “Whatever happens,” she addressed him over her shoulder, “stay back there with Anna.”

He gulped, his eyes shifting from person to person wearily. “Right," a single twiggy hand was placed upon the sleeping girl's arm. “Don't worry, Anna,” he whispered. “I've got you.”

 

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

Ch. XIX

Darkness spread from their eyes, a black mist casting the illusion of empty sockets. Soon they were bathing in it.

Shivers slithered all along Ari's arms, her jaw slackening.

“This isn't good, Sora,” Donald said.

“Keep her safe,” he replied. “We have to get her back to the city.”

Ari's contribution was minimal. “Is this even normal? Can this kind of thing happen?”

“Darkness exists in all hearts, remember?” Goofy supplied helpfully.

“Shit, are you kidding me?” Her eyes were widening with every second, their shrouds entangling until they seemed to merge into one.

“Jafar was evil, too,” Donald pointed out. “The darkness destroys people.”

“Jafar became a genie!” She was shaking her head incredulously, backing slowly away.

Side by side they smiled, then faded. Shoulders, arms, faces, legs, the body of each consuming the other until Ari was sure she was living a horror movie. Soon the darkness gave hints of what had become of them: a single entity no longer resembling anything that could be recognized as human. They now shared a head consisting almost entirely of a mouth dripping below wide, marbled black eyes, the appendage nestled heavily between looming hunched shoulders from which four arms like black diamond knives protruded, forearms elongated and ready to steady the beast should its legs fail it, a double pair that made for the long back of a ghostly steed, its skin black as shadow.

The most sickening part of all was that Ari was certain those teeth – long, sharp, and thin, protruding crookedly from its gaping mouth – were meant to be a cage for the slumbering girl in their possession.

It was nauseatingly jarring, this new lesson in darkness.

“We have to protect Anna!” Sora was already launching himself, Keyblade mid-swing.

_Shit. Fuck. What the fuck is that?!_ Her sword shook in her grasp along with her.

“For Daisy!” Donald thundered forward, staff raised.

In the ensuing madness, Ari chanced a glance at the girl lying innocently oblivious to her own predicament. Her free hand went reflexively to the caged amethyst at her chest, toying with the pendant haphazardly, lips pursed. For a moment it was no longer Anna but Reina lying there helpless while the darkness wrapped its spindly limbs around her small, fragile frame.

Her fist tightened desperately around the pendant, the angles of its silver cage digging into her palm. She couldn't let the darkness have them. Not Anna, not Jasmine, and certainly not Reina. Decisively she turned back to the battle. Her timing could not have been more discouraging. The beast they now faced slammed a chiseled limb right into Sora, sending him doubled over and flying. Donald screamed after him and cast a healing spell, but that was time he didn't have. As Goofy geared up to charge, Donald was brutally cast aside head first. He fell into the snow and didn't budge.

The heartless didn't miss a beat. With frightening speed it bolted, its arms swinging high as Goofy readied his shield.

“Oh no! Watch out!” Olaf panicked, jittery where he stood watch over his creator's sibling.

“Thunder!” Sora was now scrambling back to the fray, attempting desperately to slow it down with every few steps he took. Each landed strike gave it pause, but only for a moment.

“Oh, not good, not good, not good! What do we do?! Oh jeez, he's gonna get clobbered,” Olaf placed his twiggy hands over his eyes.

To Ari, it was as though time had slowed as the beast approached, but her mind could not keep up quickly enough to react. What could she do to help? A spell from her position might have slowed the approach, as Sora had done, but what spell? Snow was all around, but did that mean she could use it as water, or would that prove fruitless? If Sora's thunder did nothing more than force a momentary pause, would her wind be of any use? She could fight head on, but with one glance behind her she knew it would be no good to leave those two on their own. Or perhaps they would be more successful if they all fought together. Could she stake Anna's life on it?

As every possible movement was analyzed, the heartless made contact with Goofy's shield. He held his ground and used the force of its momentum to swipe the limb aside. Anticipating this, a second arm was jabbed into his left shoulder and he fell back into the snow with a yelp, bringing his shield forward again as it brought another arm right down upon him. The blow rang against the metal and the creature leaned its weight against the canine's resistance. Her companion was faltering.

“Goofy!” Sora leapt and reared his Keyblade back for a blow from behind as he caught up to the monster.

“Shit!” was all Ari could manage as it turned its gleaming black eyes toward Sora and swung his second left arm around to swat the boy like a gnat. He slid back along the ground, carving a trail into the snow as he went. Back around to Goofy it roared, then leaned back away from his shield and decided he, too, needed a good toss. Off the canine went, rolling several feet aside.

Ari's eyes watched him go, then shifted back only to meet the heartless' icy orbs. Dread sunk heavily down through her chest and into her belly. Too late for a plan now.

With Ari in its sights, it galloped nimbly upon the snow toward its prey. It barely registered as she raised her sword at the last second against its strike, feet parted and shakily holding her standing steady, but the force of the blow pushed her back a few steps, over and over until she stumbled onto her rear. Its fangs hung wide over her as it bellowed. The stench forced her to hold her breath and turn her head to the side.

Furiously it dealt blow after blow, and Ari let her instincts take over. No thought passed through, just sheer terror and the desperate need to survive. Clang after clang as it bored repeatedly against her sword, pushing her further down and back with every strike, her eyes shutting every time as she flung her sword up to meet them an instant before they could find her flesh. But she was tiring quickly.

A body hurled itself into the side of its head. Down it went into the snow as the body rolled away. Goofy flipped back up to his feet, shield once more at the ready.

Ari's eyes were frozen wide.

“Fire!” One after the other, fireballs came crashing forth from Sora's Keyblade as the beast slowly found its footing again, its clawed feet scrambling to find something more than snow to hook into.

“Are you just gonna sit there?” Ari turned at the sound of the healed magician's voice, his staff raised beside her. The surprise was enough to jolt her back into reality.

Shaking off the shock, she stumbled to her feet. “G-Got it,” she heaved under her breath, swallowing the sickened sense of horror threatening to spill from her belly, and inhaled a great gulp of icy air before she forced it back out and bolted toward the now standing Heartless. Without further hesitation, she leapt with her sword drawn behind her, slicing downward upon her foe as she neared. It roared at her and blocked with the swing of an arm to fling her aside. She rolled off into the snow, and Sora and Donald took immediate advantage of the distraction, sending forth a barrage of magical force.

Ari forced herself back up just as Goofy sent his shield flying, and when it began its return to its master, she took a deep breath and bolted forth once more. Again, she was flung aside, and magic fell upon it in its distraction. Goofy took the opportunity to boomerang his shield a second time. Again and again this scene replayed as hope filled them, having fallen into a rhythm that finally seemed to work.

But by the time the fourth round had started, deafening rage echoed across the mountaintop. In a sudden burst of power it threw its chiseled arms outward as the outburst flattened them into the snow. The heroes down, its eyes landed hard upon its victim. A breath later, it charged.

Now the only one directly in its path, Olaf yelped and frantically looked about him. No one to guard him. He had to protect Anna, and he was sadly on his own. He couldn't possibly survive this. But Anna!

With little thought, he reached his skinny arms into the snow and catapulted snowball after snowball into the monster's face. One in the eye! It had no choice but to slow as it turned its grotesque face aside with a snarl. It stalled for about a second.

He kept the snowballs coming until one found its eye again. Once more, it slowed, but its anger filled him with dread as its gleaming orbs bore into his own, its mouth widening with a growl.

“Oh, crap. I think we're in trouble, Anna. I'm so sorry!”

It sped toward him. He fell over her unconscious form in one last desperate attempt to protect her.

Lightening exploded all around it as it writhed. Two bodies leapt on either side of it, one with a key, the other a blade. Together they swung their weapons with a unified cry into its back and it reeled. Back, back it went in pain, rearing like some great and deformed stallion. A shroud of darkness began to mist from its black skin.

Sora stood and watched with heavy breaths, Keyblade ready for another clash, a gloved hand swiping across his face before returning to the hilt. Ari dropped to the ground and with the sound of its agony, immediately scurried backward to put distance between them, bracing herself for another possible run, sweaty tendrils of hair clinging to her cheeks as her chest heaved with each gasp of winter breath.

Bit by bit it crumpled to the ground, determined to keep its last threads of life. Its body sprawling, it clawed and spidered its long arms toward Anna, a desperate attempt to drag itself to its prey as the black mist slowly clouded it from their vision.

“Tch,” Ari was over this. Why couldn't this thing just die quickly?! She brought her sword up once more.

Before she could even think to strike again, another brilliant burst of lightening came raining down, and she looked over gratefully to the now distant Donald, still standing haggard where he had previously fallen. One last deep bellow echoed from the beast before it faded from existence.

A tense moment of breathless anticipation passed in the sudden stillness, then Ari's body went limp into the snow.

 


End file.
